Luke Beveridge addressed the media in Perth on Saturday night, and westernbulldogs.com.au lists the key takeaways from this press conference.
On where it went wrong
The Dogs fell by 54-points to the Dockers in Perth on Saturday, and a disappointed Beveridge outlined where he thought his side was lacking.
“We’ve had a couple of reasonable weeks where we’ve played some good footy, but unfortunately the key ingredients to those performances, and pretty much fundamentals in out game, went missing for three quarters.
“It was good that we showed some life in the last quarter when the game was gone.
“(But) he rot set in the first quarter. We had plenty of opportunities in the outside game and using the footy, but as I said on the broadcast, when you’ve got your high defenders and your wingers going inside 50s or taking teammate options in transition that are open and missing them completely, you’re in a bit of trouble.”
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On what’s next
The Dogs were able to show earlier in the season how they bounce back from a loss, and here Beveridge outlined his approach to getting the best out of the group when they take on Carlton this Friday.
“As a coach, I believe in our players and their capabilities and so in some ways it’s surprising when you have a total breakdown in skill, or there’s a perceived pressure that creeps into one or two of the players heads.
“Sometimes with younger players, that’s par for the course and it’s going to take a while to work itself out but all we can do is keep developing them and putting time into them during the week and reminding them that they’re better players than they’ve shown.
“And stay positive. It’s Round Five and we don’t like our ratio but we’ll continue to do our best to turn it around.”
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Injury update
Tory Dickson left the field early in the second quarter with what appeared to be a hamstring and Aaron Naughton left the field in the third after a heavy knock to the jaw. Beveridge provided an update on each player’s condition.
“I haven’t check in to see (Tory) about how bad it is, but I think he’s got a hamstring injury so you imagine he’ll be out for a little while.”
“(Aaron’s) ok. He’s got a cut on his chin but he seems to be ok.
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Who’s pressing for selection
As the Dogs head into a six day break, Beveridge gives a run down on who is available for selection next week.
“We only had eight AFL listed players play in our VFL side this weekend so definitely this weekend we’re drained a little bit.
“Bailey Williams probably could have played but he couldn’t fly because he’s had an inner ear infection, and Lachie Hunter comes back after suspension.
“Hayden Crozier will be available this week so there’s a handful of players who have put their hand up for selection.”
