External expectations are wide-ranging for the Western Bulldogs entering 2024, following a bitterly disappointing end to last season.
Despite entering last year stacked with talent and winning seven of their first 10 outings, the Dogs couldn’t cultivate a winning formula at the business end of the season.
In particular, the Bulldogs’ losses to cellar-dwellers Hawthorn and West Coast in back-to-back weeks were season-killers. It meant a final-round win against Geelong was rendered meaningless en route to a September spent watching on.
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Throwing a spanner in the works this pre-season was Bailey Smith’s ACL rupture, resulting in a season-long void that will need to be appropriately filled.
The Bulldogs added to their talented list during last October’s exchange period, acquiring ex-Melbourne midfielder James Harmes and former St Kilda defender Nick Coffield, with Harmes shaping as a strong option to offset the Smith absence.
The Bulldogs also utilised the national draft avenue last November, welcoming highly-touted Tasmanian midfielder Ryley Sanders and promising father-son prospect Jordan Croft to the fray.
They also dipped their feet in the pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) market, signing delisted ex-Hawthorn defender Lachlan Bramble on the first day of proceedings.
Going the other way was out-of-favour ruckman Jordon Sweet, who was offloaded to Port Adelaide. Josh Bruce (retired), Hayden Crozier (delisted), Mitch Hannan (delisted), Robbie McComb (delisted), Toby McLean (delisted), Tim O’Brien (delisted), Cody Raak (delisted) and Roarke Smith (delisted) were the other Dogs to depart the Kennel at last year’s end.
While the catalyst to the Western Bulldogs’ 2024 fate may prove to be their changed list, lingering questions about the coaching future of Luke Beveridge also figure to sway the momentum of their season.
STRENGTH
List balance. A lot of clubs either have a bevy of talented veterans or a slew of promising youngsters, but they rarely have both. On paper at least, the Bulldogs are one of the few sides with a list that comprises both.
The Dogs boast an array of star veterans, led by skipper Marcus Bontempelli as well as the dependable Adam Treloar, Tom Liberatore, Liam Jones, Jack Macrae, Caleb Daniel, Bailey Dale, Bailey Williams, Jason Johannisen and Harmes. But there’s also a strong supporting cast bridging the gap between older and younger.
All-Australian ruck Tim English – whose off-contract situation will hover over Bulldogs headquarters throughout the course of the season – is an invaluable asset, as is key forward Aaron Naughton, 24, who, conversely, cemented his long-term Bulldogs commitment last year.
Ed Richards (24) and Cody Weightman (23) are just a couple more of the difference-makers at Beveridge and his match committee’s disposal in 2024.
Albeit, it is probably the club’s younger brigade that inspires the most belief and excitement among the club’s powerbrokers and supporters.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Sam Darcy and James O’Donnell, as well as the aforementioned Sanders and Croft have blindingly bright futures ahead of them. Whether they start unlocking their full potential this year or next, it’s just a matter of time. The future of the Kennel is in safe hands.
WEAKNESS
Coaching and football department stability. Growing doubts over Beveridge’s future at the Bulldogs have formed something of a cloud over Whitten Oval this pre-season, with the 53-year-old linked to a potential switch to Fremantle in January.
Western Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains was recently forced to downplay rumours of tension between Beveridge and long-tenured football director Chris Grant, particularly following the off-season departure of heralded assistant coach Rohan Smith.
“I don’t think (Matthew Egan’s appointment as performance boss) is a buffer in terms of what’s required between the pair, it’s certainly a buffer in terms of what the program needs, and that’s to have another senior leader within the football program,” Bains told SEN this week.
“There has been (tension) in many quarters I think just generally within the department, going back to the previous question about that uncertainty.
“But I was on record a couple of weeks ago dismissing some of the suggestions about there being a blow-up (between Beveridge and Grant) and an unworkable breakdown and things like that – I think that’s grossly exaggerated.”
Smith, a close confidant of Beveridge and a 12-year servant at Whitten Oval, parted ways with the club at the end of last year, furthering external conjecture about the senior coach’s displeasure.
“I think it’s been delicate with everyone, particularly in that phase last year where there was a lot of change and uncertainty, it’s human nature I think to be really anxious about what’s coming next,” said Bains.
“It’s fair to say that was last year, and coming back into the new year and we’ll talk about the season to come, it’s been incredibly positive.
“I think the process we’ve gone through has actually allowed for a lot of the people who have been at our club to almost have a cathartic experience I think, talking about it and getting things off their chest.”
Time will tell whether the Bulldogs’ department restructure will pay dividends or result in an internal crisis of sorts.
Beveridge is contracted at the Bulldogs for this season and next, having penned a deal in December 2022.
PREMIERSHIP CLOCK
6pm: The Dogs are difficult to place when it comes to assessing their premiership credentials. Coming off a 2023 season that undoubtedly concluded in bitter fashion, some expect the Bulldogs to falter to a further extent this year. Conversely, the pure on-paper talent the Doggies boast has prompted others to predict a red, white and blue rebound into the September conversation. They might have the widest best-to-worst-case spectrum out of any AFL club in 2024. So, in fairness to both perspectives, we’ll slot them halfway between the doldrums and the ultimate glory.
PREDICTED LADDER RANGE
6th-10th.
PREDICTED ROUND 1 SIDE:
B: Nick Coffield, Liam Jones, Bailey Dale
HB: Ed Richards, James O’Donnell, Caleb Daniel
C: Ryley Sanders, Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae
HF: Rhylee West, Aaron Naughton, James Harmes
F: Cody Weightman, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Sam Darcy
FOLL: Tim English, Adam Treloar, Tom Liberatore
I/C: Bailey Williams, Jason Johannisen, Laitham Vandermeer, Oskar Baker, Anthony Scott (sub)
