Western Bulldogs GM of Football Operations Matt Egan says while the team’s sole focus is Richmond this weekend, it’s important to remember time is still on their side.
The Bulldogs will head into Saturday night’s meeting with the 17th placed Tigers under immense external pressure to perform, following consecutive losses to Fremantle and Hawthorn.
Egan said applying the lessons from those outings will be critical as the team looks to rebound.
“It’s been a disappointing season so far, being obviously 3-5, but it's not the season over,” Egan told SEN’s Gerard Whateley on Wednesday morning.
“It's still early in the season and we've seen many teams, even last year (which were) in this position and turned it all around.
“I think it's important after every loss you learn strongly from it so you can make some changes and I feel we have, but in saying that the last four or five weeks - a great win against St Kilda, a close loss to the Cats and then a disappointing last quarter against Essendon - there's some different trends.
“It's why as a coaching group and a staff and playing group, we're working really hard for some consistency... the reason for that consistency has probably been the discussion - we've got eight players under 50 games, and while we're not a rebuilding team, there are some inconsistencies in our performances so far.
“There’s no doubt we're trying to find the reasons for those things, and then try to implement it going forward again (starting with) Richmond this week.”
Egan was confident the club could turn things around in the latter half of the season, but need to stay focused on the task at hand each week first and foremost.
“We didn't make finals last year, so we're trying to find the gaps and the difference that is going to help us propel into the finals this year,” he said.
“I look at teams last year – GWS were 3-6, Sydney were 3-5 and Carlton were 4-6, and they all found ways to learn from their losses early in the season and make some change.
“There's no doubt we need to make some slight changes in what we're doing week-to-week, but there’s a really strong belief in our list of high-end talent, (mixed with) obviously some really experienced players and some younger guys coming through that we can make some change.
“The Hawks game was obviously disappointing, but the whole competition is just so even. It's a week-to-week (proposition).
“Yes, you can look too far ahead and what it might look like in four or five weeks but all our energy will be towards Richmond this week.”
Egan was also full of support for coach Luke Beveridge.
“He sure does (have the fight). He’s an incredible coach, Bevo,” Egan said.
“He's an innovator - when you're playing against Bulldogs, (we’re) quite tricky to play, and always looking to do things slightly different around the ball.
“I feel like he's got a pretty good record, and there’d be a lot of coaches out there who would take his record so far as a coach.
“He’s definitely got the energy that's for sure.”
The Bulldogs will meet Richmond at the MCG on Saturday night.
