Shades of 2012 Hawks in Dogs
Age demographics bode well
THERE are three certainties in life: death, taxes and a dynasty being declared for the AFL premiership winner.
While Melbourne ticks a lot of boxes in this regard, the reality is only two teams from the past decade have lived up to the tag.
Hawthorn and Richmond gobbled up three flags and if you go back further, Geelong and Brisbane are the only other sides to have claimed the dynasty tag this century.
So what does history about the runner-up?
That’s not necessarily good reading for the Western Bulldogs, given only one team in the past 10 years has bounced back from a grand final loss to get back to the last Saturday in September.
Hawthorn was upstaged by Sydney in 2012 but then began its three-flag run in 2013.
The good news for Dogs fans is that Luke Beveridge experienced it all when he was assistant to Alistair Clarkson from 2012 to 2014.
There are a lot of similarities with the Hawks for the 2021 Bulldogs if you take a glass half-full approach.
The Hawks won a flag before they were really ready in 2008, then lost their way for various reasons before reemerging in 2012.
Beveridge’s pups did the same thing in 2016, they got on a roll and produced a magical month of football that powered them to an historic drought-breaking premiership.
The wheels fell off in the subsequent two seasons – 10th and 13th – before the Dogs started to rise again with backto-back finals appearances.
It’s the precedent Beveridge can sell to his team who were a lot closer than the scoreboard ultimately said on Saturday.
They’d been forced to take the hardest road possible to the decider, five states and numerous Covid bubbles, and it finally caught up to them in the last 45 minutes of the season.
From an age and games played perspective, the Bulldogs are in a sweet spot.
Captain Marcus Bontempelli, the Brownlow Medal runner-up, turns 26 in November, while many of the other Dogs prime movers are between the ages of 25 and 28.
These include Adam Treloar, Jack Macrae, Lachie Hunter, Bailey Dale, Josh Dunkley, Caleb Daniel and Bailey Williams.
There aren’t too many over 30s, with former captain Easton Wood, 32, still having a few miles in the tank, as do fellow defenders Taylor Duryea, Alex Keath and forward Josh Bruce.
And then there is the exciting bunch of young kids.
Bailey Smith announced himself as a superstar of the competition in the finals and only turns 21 in December, while full-forward Aaron Naughton shortly turns 22. Cody Weightman is 20.
There was enough in No.1 draft pick Jamarra UgleHagan’s five games to get excited, while the father-son rule is set to deliver a likely top-five pick in Sam Darcy, the son of former ruckman Luke.
It is the ruck position that will again consume Beveridge over the summer. Tim English, 24, took major strides this season, but he desperately needs a hardened back-up.
Stefan Martin, who turns 35 in November, was brought in for that role from Brisbane, but injury largely cruelled that.
Bontempelli addressed the challenge confronting his team over the next 12 months. “There is upside,” he said. “A lot of our young players played extremely well through the back half (of the year) and most of the finals, really.
“We acknowledge how difficult it is to make a grand final and that’s a milestone in itself.
“But the endeavour has to be there now, to bounce back, (to) lick our wounds.
“No doubt this will sting for a little bit, but we’ll try to make something of it.
“I’ve got to try my best to set the tone and set the direction.”
The Bulldogs couldn’t be in better hands to do that, just like Hawthorn was back in 2012 when a second-year captain in Luke Hodge led them to the grand final.
And we know what happened the next year.