A lengthy post-mortem examination looms for the Western Bulldogs after their 2024 flag hopes ended on Friday night courtesy of a breathtaking Hawthorn performance.
Unexpectedly dry conditions at the MCG were meant to help the Bulldogs’ tall forwards fire, but instead it supercharged the Hawks’ quick handball game in a 37-point win that was the mirror image of the Dogs’ 2016 semi-final triumph.
The Dogs recorded a season-low 326 disposals and were held to just 9.8 (62) for the game – their second-lowest score for the match.
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Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown declared on Fox Footy that Hawthorn had produced “a systematic dismantling of the Western Bulldogs”.
Melbourne champion Garry Lyon lamented the Bulldogs’ inability to move the ball from end to end. According to Champion Data, only eight per cent of the Dogs’ defensive 50 exits on Friday night led to inside 50s – the ninth-worst return of any team in the past 10 years.
“When you’ve got Bailey Dale in your back half, Caleb Daniel who can push back and (Adam) Treloar and (Marcus) Bontempelli – that is a damning number right there,” Lyon said.
“All of these ‘worst returns for the year’ on a night where you want to put your best foot forward. It’s going to be a really tough off-season.”
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Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis told Fox Footy the Dogs carried “too many passengers” on Friday night.
But Lewis added he was surprised by some of the Bulldogs’ positional and selection decisions at the start of the game.
“You don’t like any surprises from coaches, but it just felt like there were a few tricks that tried to be played,” Lewis told Fox Footy.
“Midfielders starting at half-back then coming through, (Jamarra) Ugle-Hagan on the bench … there was a lot of moving parts in that first quarter that I don’t think as a player you’d tend to like.
“When you’re coming into a big final, you want predictability and continuity.”
Herald Sun reporter and Midweek Tackle panellist Jon Ralph declared Friday night’s loss to Hawthorn “an unmitigated disaster for the Western Bulldogs” before pointing to coach Luke Beveridge’s “topsy-turvy” finals record.
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“He’s got a flag and a Grand Final. But 10 completed seasons, seven finals campaigns, only one losing year – 8-14 – and yet they’ve only won finals in two of those seven campaigns,” Ralph said.
“What do you do with Luke Beveridge when you think that this list is so star-studded – and yet he’s out of contract in 2025. Do you think ‘it’s a wasted opportunity but he’s our man’? The Bulldogs board and hierarchy very much think that he’s their man.
“But do you extend his contract at the start of next year? Or does he go into next season, as he did this year, potentially after a slow start, under significant pressure?”
Seven-time All-Australian Nathan Buckley suggested the Bulldogs’ poorer performances this year were more telling than their positive ones.
“There were questions around the Bulldogs where they began the year, but they were able to build through the season really well and put some really good form together,” Buckley told Fox Footy post-game.
“The ‘highlight’ for their season was then they played really poorly – so Port Adelaide smashed them, Adelaide smashed them and they were well beaten tonight. Maybe when they don’t get the contest right, there’s not enough mechanisms in other parts of their game to be able to stand up.”
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