The Western Bulldogs have had almost three months to process their performance in round one against Collingwood.
Senior coach Luke Beveridge says it’s time for action after that “distasteful” opening to the season, starting with Sunday’s resumption against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.
“We’re going to do our absolute best to win the game, but we’re well aware we need to be leaps and bounds ahead of where we were in round one,” Beveridge told media at VU Whitten Oval today.
“Time will tell.
“The unfortunate thing is with all the downtime, you get too many opportunities to talk about it.
“All is needed now is action.
“We’ve prepared pretty well for it… we’ll see what happens.”
A slightly different Bulldogs outfit has been flagged to face the Saints – with Beveridge suggesting there could be “four to six” personnel changes with plenty of competition on the training track and a healthy squad to choose from.
Tom Liberatore, Lin Jong and Pat Lipinski are in the mix to bolster a Bulldogs’ midfield that Beveridge acknowledged was “annihilated” by Collingwood.
If Jong is selected, it will mark his first AFL match since August 2018.
In response to Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson’s comment that the Bulldogs were “one defeat away from being accused of having a softish mentality”, Beveridge said his side would need to be tougher.
“You set yourself up for those comments and those opinions and we’ve just got to face up to that and wear it,” he said.
“If that’s what people think, we’ve got to change that opinion.”
