‘We get that’: Coach’s ‘honest’ admission as Dogs make big finals statement to critics

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was absolutely elated with his team’s crushing 88-point win over GWS on Thursday night, declaring there was “nothing to be unhappy about” with the performance.

It was a must-win game for the Dogs whose finals hopes would have all but evaporated had they lost to the Giants at Marvel Stadium.

But Beveridge’s men rose to the occasion, and then some, booting 11 of the first 12 goals to finish off the contest before half-time and going on to register their biggest ever win against the expansion club.

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And although the Dogs are still far from guaranteed finals action with three rounds to go, thanks largely to their struggles to beat top-eight sides, Beveridge paid tribute to his players for their efforts to this point of the year.

“If I had have asked you how you’d describe our players, our team, our club throughout the course of the year, I think we’ve been pretty honest,” Beveridge said.

“Our players keep fronting up and giving their all. We understand the criticism around not necessarily being able to eke our way further up the ladder and beating some teams above us. We get that. We’ve just got to own up to all of that.

“But along the way there hasn’t been a game where we haven’t been really thankful that the players have put in and done their best and everything they try to get out of themselves and tonight was another one that the application was there right across the 23 players.

“The cold hard facts are we need to keep winning so it’s one down and a handful to go.”

The Bulldogs restricted the Giants to a score of 6.8 (44) – their second-lowest of the year – and Beveridge paid tribute to his team’s defensive exhibition.

“Our back six or seven have been beat up a little bit with the critique of them and the emerging players and the evolution of that line alone,” Beveridge said.

“But we all take ownership of that because ultimately you need your midfield group and your forward group to contribute to your defensive system and I think everyone stepped that up a little bit.

“It was an improvement obviously to keep a pretty threatening forward line to that score, but also to limit our exposure there and keeping them out of their 50. It’s a pretty good way to play if you can do it.”

A big reason behind the Giants’ deprivation of scoring chances was the fact that the Bulldogs won the contested possessions by a staggering margin of 52 (138-86).

“Sometimes where angels fear to tread, you can’t second-guess yourself in this game,” Beveridge said.

“Not that we have throughout the course of the year, but I felt that any disputed ball that needed to be won, there was a great commitment at ground level and in the air.

“There was no question that our players were absolutely committed to that big challenge in the game which never goes away, but the best teams are prepared, as much as the risk is there, to put their bodies on the line and the boys really did that tonight.”