Western Bulldogs at centre of 'harsh' AFL reality after Magpies capitulation

The Western Bulldogs hopes of an AFL finals run are in serious jeopardy after a two-goal loss to Collingwood on Friday night, compounded by the fact they forfeited a three-goal lead to the ladder-leading Magpies. Where a win could have potentially pushed the Bulldogs into the top four, AFL great Cameron Mooney has picked them to drop out of the top eight altogether.

A difficult run home was the main reason Mooney suggested the Bulldogs risked dropping out of the finals race, with away games against Sydney, GWS, Richmond and Geelong interspersed with winnable matches against the likes of West Coast and Hawthorn. However the former Geelong champion said several statistical comparisons with the league's bottom four teams did not work out in the Bulldogs' favour.

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“This is going to be a little harsh, because they were good tonight, they really were, but someone has to fall out of the eight, at least one or two,” Mooney told Fox Footy.

“I think the Dogs are one of those teams to fall out of the eight. Their run home isn’t a great one. “They’ve got seven games left and I think we picked three, maybe four tops to go on and win."

Mooney's key criticism was that the Bulldogs spend far too much time dithering with the football, denying key forwards Aaron Naughton and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan the opportunity for a one-on-one contest. The Bulldogs average the seventh-most disposals per goal in the AFL, numbers that put them on par with the likes of West Coast and North Melbourne.

“They rank seventh in the competition for possessions per goal so for me, they completely overpossess the ball,” Mooney said. “They’re the worst in the top eight for overpossessing it … there’s a lot of kicking sideways and backwards, a lot of junk kicking.

“I think over the last couple of weeks, it’s actually come down. They usually average well over 400 possessions a game, which is just ridiculous in today’s game.”

Mooney implored the Bulldogs to simplify their attack, prioritising the speed at which they bring the ball into their forward 50. If they don't they could risk dropping out of the eight at the expense of teams such as Geelong, Richmond or possibly even Fremantle.

“I would love to see them go, ‘You know what, we’re going to just go quick, straight, down the middle and see what happens,’” he said. “When they did it, they looked fantastic.

“Give Jamarra Ugle-Hagan a chance, he looks great on the lead. (Aaron) Naughton’s fantastic one-on-one, but they keep bombing on his head and make him jump into packs.

“If you allow these guys to play one-on-one footy, it’s amazing what will happen. But they just go so slow for mine, sometimes I just can’t watch them.”

Bulldogs left to rue missed opportunities in Magpies loss

The Bulldogs pushed the Magpies in Friday night's Marvel Stadium blockbuster, kicking the first three goals of the game and leading by 22 points during the second term. But Collingwood kicked clear in the third quarter and then held off the Bulldogs' late surge to win by 12 points.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge was left to rue his team's lack of poise and noted two moments. The first was when Collingwood forward Ash Johnson took an uncontested mark on the goal line, giving him the easiest of set shots.

Then Magpies captain Darcy Moore was able to do the same at the other end when he stopped a Bulldogs shot at goal. "There's some detail and some margins in there that matter in these games," Beveridge said.

"The boys obviously dug in and persevered - we came with a bit of a challenge in the last quarter. But even then, we squandered some great opportunities."

Still, the game showed Beveridge that the Bulldogs can be competitive against the best - provided they keep improving. "In the cut and thrust of the game, they were just a little bit too good, a little bit too brilliant at times," he said.

"We'll go away with some positives, but we want to make up these margins that we know are there. We feel like we're not too far away, but it can still be too far."

With AAP

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