Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says he’s grateful to his gamers for overcoming a horror begin to the season and believes his facet is firmly “in the mix” as a finals risk.
Beveridge was the topic of heavy scrutiny when the Bulldogs started the season with two heavy losses to Melbourne and St Kilda, however six wins from their final seven matches have supporters and pundits singing a special tune.
He stated the Dogs had “designs” on a prime 4 spot heading into each season however now had vital perception after a month that included a thumping victory over Fremantle in Perth and a resilient win towards a determined opponent in Carlton.
“We were under pressure round 2 – I’m grateful, we all are, for what the players have done to create some momentum now in our season and really put us in the mix,” Beveridge stated.
“(The run of form) makes us feel like we’ve now got an opportunity to be productive in a little bit more of a significant way to continue to try to climb.
“It is only round 9 so I don’t want to start talking about the pointy end of the season … we’ve got designs on (a top four spot), whether we can get there is another thing.”
Beveridge stated dedication to be “hard to play against” for any opposition had been essential to the Bulldogs’ type, as they confronted starkly completely different circumstances over the following fortnight, with clashes towards Adelaide in Ballarat this week and Gold Coast in Darwin in spherical 11.
“I know some of the teams down the bottom are being talked down, but we approach it as we’re vulnerable week to week as much as we believe in ourselves,” he stated.
“We’ve got to stifle the speed with which they are capable of moving it, which they showed in Adelaide this week.
“I would’ve thought (Ballarat) might be a bit more of a scrappy, surge-type contested game at ground level.”
Beveridge stated the Bulldogs would “wait and see” with the health of key defender Josh Bruce, who is not any certainty to come back again in on the senior stage after robust performances by the important thing defensive trio of Liam Jones, Alex Keath and Ryan Gardner towards the Blues.
“He’ll train today Josh – he was absolutely going well enough and starting to settle in our backline when we lost him in the Port Adelaide game,” he stated.
“Whether he plays this week, most likely not, but we’ll cover that off after training.
“We have got some depth through there now and it’s been important for us. It’s been a little bit of a revolving door when you consider Josh and Tim O’Brien coming in, playing well and going out.”
Beveridge stated 197cm debutant James O’Donnell was very more likely to stay within the facet to face the Crows.
Originally revealed as Luke Beveridge praises gamers’ resilience, declares Bulldogs ‘in the mix’
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
