Complacent Bulldogs set for 'soul searching': Beveridge
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has declared his team has "soul-searching" to do after a complacent performance against Collingwood on Friday night.
The Bulldogs dominated the first term and led by four goals at the first break but the Magpies would slowly rediscover their groove in the second term and take charge after half-time at Etihad Stadium.
The Pies booted eight goals to nil after the main break, storming to a 35-point win - their sixth win of the season.
"They lifted their intensity and that challenged us on a number of fronts and we came up well short. Put that down to Collingwood's ferocity around the ball [and] our lack of scope to maintain it in our front half – the ball came out of our forward half way too easily," Beveridge said.
"It felt like for most of the game our back end held it together pretty well but backmen can't defend those open plays.
"So the 12 through the middle of the ground and forward of the ball just became complacent and as much as that's disappointing and deflating at least we know what it is and we can fix it. We know we can't do that and play to a level that we know we can. Credit to Collingwood and we've got some soul-searching to do pretty quickly."
The Dogs have only the four wins and appear almost certain to miss the finals for a second straight season since claiming an unexpected premiership in 2016.
Beveridge said the Dogs' complacency had been as a result of poor intensity and attitude.
"We just didn't have any consistency forward of centre and through the arcs," Beveridge said.
"[Collingwood's] divisions in those areas got well on top. We made some adjustments late when they got a goal or two up but it was to no avail, it didn't arrest the slide."
Midfielders Jack Macrae and Toby McLean did not have the same impact after half-time as they had enjoyed earlier in the game, while Marcus Bontempelli was subdued. Josh Schache, the former Lion in his first game for the Dogs, booted a goal but had little impact.
The Dogs were without defender Zaine Cordy after half-time because of delayed concussion but that was no reason why they could manage only four points after the main break.
"I couldn't tell you when the incident happened, but it came to my attention during the second quarter. So we had to keep him off and it was confirmed at half-time that he wasn't able to take the field again," Beveridge said.
The Bulldogs face another major challenge next Saturday when they take on the surging Demons.
The Magpies, having won six of their past eight matches, are on a roll but are likely to be without big man Mason Cox next week after he was reported for a high bump on Jason Johannisen, who had his head over the ball.
They will also be without speedster Travis Varcoe for the clash against Fremantle next week, for he has a hamstring strain.
Coach Nathan Buckley said the American-born Cox, booked late in the last quarter, was a "clumsy fella at the best of times".
“It was a clumsy contest, but we’ll wait and see how that pans out. The size differential is always tough for him. He’s going to collect guys high more often than not in that circumstance," he said.
The Magpies refocused at half-time, and took note of their poor tackling to that point, the Dogs leading the count 36-21.
Ruckman Brodie Grundy began to dominate around the ground, midfielders Adam Treloar and Scott Pendlebury were busy, while defenders Tom Phillips and Matthew Scharenberg were superb.
They finished with 10 goal-kickers on a night Jordan de Goey, having booted 12 goals in his previous three matches, was held goalless.
“The plans we went in with, we executed better in the second quarter. One thing we didn't bring [early] was the pressure on the ball [carrier] that we normally enjoy and take for granted in many ways, but our pressure was really low and the Bulldogs mids and high backs were able to find some hit-ups off our defenders," Buckley said.
“Our back six have been defending really well [and] our defensive mechanisms behind the ball have been pretty strong but when you don't have pressure on the pill it's going to expose even the best defensive unit.
“We got that right and it was clearly the thing that changed the game in the second quarter and we got more right after that.”