When the siren sounded last Sunday afternoon, much of the talk was focused on what Bob Murphy’s knee injury might mean for the Western Bulldogs going forward, and fair enough.

Murphy’s loss will be felt keenly on and off the field, but the fact that a Bulldogs side with the fifth youngest list in the competition ran the reigning premiers to three points was understandably lost amongst the outpouring of support for the fallen skipper.

But it’s worth noting that when both sides ran out onto Etihad Stadium, the Hawks boasted 14 100-gamers, the Dogs sending out just five.

A large and significant difference.

You expect a side with three consecutive premierships under their belt to field an experienced team, so it’s no surprise the Hawks trailed only North Melbourne and West Coast, who both trotted out 15 100-gamers in round three.

Of the Bulldogs who have reached this milestone that suited up last Sunday, we can count them one hand – Murphy, Dale Morris, Matthew Boyd, Liam Picken and Matthew Suckling.

Only Brisbane were less experienced than the Bulldogs.

What does it all mean? It means that Bulldogs fans should be buoyed by the fact that named among the best against the Hawks were 23-year-old Luke Dahlhaus (97 games), 19-year-old Caleb Daniel (13 games) and 22-year-old Marcus Adams (3 games).

Lachie Hunter, with 39 games to his name is leading the Club for disposals per-game after round three with 29.7, Adams tops the marking table with 9.3 grabs per game and Jake Stringer (53 games) is averaging almost three goals a contest.

While losing Murphy is a cruel blow, if the opening three rounds have demonstrated anything, it’s that the Club is in good, albeit young, hands.