5 Things We Learned - Round 17

In Luke Beveridge's 150th game as coach, the Western Bulldogs were brought back to Earth with a thud following a 19 point defeat to the Sydney Swans, 8.12 60 to 11.13 79 under the roof at Marvel Stadium. There were more than enough opportunities to pinch the win but it ultimately felt like the margin was a bit flattering and had some similarities to the game against Melbourne back in round 11.

The alarm bells were there last week against North Melbourne as a better side would have taken full advantage of our lethargic display and this was the case coming up against an ultra disciplined Sydney Swans outfit.

The Swans were the better team on the day and deserved the four points on offer after an excellent defensive display but despite the loss, there were still a few winners for us in Bailey Smith, Alex Keath, and Taylor Duryea who held their own in their respective duels.

The Bulldogs have suffered their third loss in the past six games. Source: AFL Photos

1) Where The Match Was Lost

Both the Western Bulldogs and Sydney Swans haven't been strong in the marking department this year with both sides sitting 14th and 17th before round 17 in that statistic. The interesting part is that the Bulldogs have allowed the 3rd most marks against (104) compared to the Swans who allow the least in the competition with 77 per game.

Although we were beaten in the contested marking department (8-20), it was Sydney's ability to pull us apart and spread our defensive structures across the ground quite wide through its uncontested marks.

The 123 marks the Swans were able to take was 33 more than their season average and almost double our tally on Sunday afternoon which underlines a work rate issue as well as a potential lack of focus and not being switched on.

It was the 11th time this year we have been beaten in this statistic, the fifth week in a row and the third consecutive week that the marking differential between us and our opponents reached greater than -40.

When you are giving up that much possession to your opponents you are asking for trouble.

Now not always is taking more marks a good thing as we have seen this be the case in the second West Coast game where we forced them to take a majority of their marks in their back half, well away from the goals, but this wasn't the case against the Swans as they took 73 in the middle third of the ground.

By allowing the Swans to control the tempo of the game through their 123 marks (103 uncontested) they were able to force us to constantly be defending and chasing tail which can be quite exhausting, physically and mentally.

Another reason for the defeat was our inability to convert our inside 50 entries into goals with us only doing so 15% of the time (8/52) which was well below the AFL average of 22.22%,while the Swans were slightly above average in that statistic scoring a goal from 23% (11) of their 47 inside 50 entries.

In 2021 the Bulldogs have also been one of the heaviest scoring sides when it comes to punishing turnovers, regularly reaching 50 or more points but on Sunday afternoon we could only muster 23 points from 54 intercept possessions compared to the Swans 62 points from 64 intercepts. The Dogs also made 25 defensive half turnovers to just 15 for Sydney which at times gifted them back the ball and it cost us dearly.

If a side finishes with 79 points and you gift them the better part of 10 goals, you aren't going to win many games of football.

No doubt the Swans were able to pressure our ball carriers (Macrae 25 disposals, Hunter 19) but I think it was more of perceived pressure by cutting off certain areas of the ground which lead to these turnovers more than physical pressure. This also occurred because the Swans defenders played quite tight to their direct opponents which didn't allow us to take many uncontested marks as we registered just the 48 in that fashion.

We were strangled in many different ways and it was probably one of the best defensive displays across the ground for four quarters this season by any team.

2) Riley Garcia Is Here To Stay

The zippy mid-forward has had a rough start to his AFL career after missing all of last year recovering from an ACL injury and being concussed in his opening quarter against Melbourne but since his return to the side against West Coast, he has certainly added a point of difference in the forward half.

Garcia's performance against the Swans was encouraging as it included 15 disposals, eight contested possessions, five inside 50s, three clearances, four score involvements, 229 metres gained and 25 pressure acts which was the second most on the ground behind Sydney's Luke Parker.

After being drafted in 2019 with pick 62 following an exchange of fourth-round draft picks with Hawthorn, there were many people in the AFL environment who expected him to be a top 30 selection in the 2020 Draft. So far you can see why he was highly rated and sought out by the Dogs a year before and why they have been so keen to get him into the best 22.

Garcia too has four goal assists in as many games, which is on par with more renowned teammates such as Caleb Daniel and Aaron Naughton who have five each and Tom Liberatore with four.

The Swan Districts product had also been in fantastic form in his six games for Footscray in the VFL averaging a touch under 26 disposals (25.7) and an impressive 5.7 tackles.

It was reported a month ago by The West Australian that Garcia was closing in on a contract extension at the Kennel and Garcia has been duly rewarded with a contract extension until the end of 2022.

Riley Garcia has shown more than enough promise in his four games in his debut season to see why he is an important part of the future. Source: AFL Photos

3) Games Like This Highlights Why Naughton Must Remain A Forward

Last week I discussed how predictable we have been this year in terms of relying on Naughton and Bruce, for the most part, to deliver the bulk of the scoring but having both fit and available on the field adds a lot more than just structure to our forward set up clearly.

The lack of a genuine second target was on display against the Swans as they took full advantage of there being just the one genuine target in Josh Bruce who has directed the ball on 14 occasions, Weightman six times, and debutant Ugle-Hagan seven times respectively. Bruce is of course a veteran with almost 150 games to his belt and needed to stand up but to have his support come from two players who have just 12 games between them says Naughton was sorely missed.

Although we have added a few important pieces to our forward puzzle since 2019, no one has been more instrumental in that third of the ground than Naughton. In that time he has played 50 of a possible 57 games, has taken 125 marks inside 50, and kicked 80 goals.

His absence no doubt played a part as the Swans took 38 marks in their defensive 50 with only four of those being contested. This highlights our inability to bring the ball to ground and our forwards being unable to get the separation needed to create a contest.

As such, the Swans backline was largely unchallenged and this allowed them to rebound from our attacking 50 on 44 occasions, the equal sixth most we have given up this year.

On top of that, the Swans also took 12 defensive half contested marks, with Tom McCartin registering 11 intercept possessions and 10 marks (four contested), with six of those coming from intercepts.

It was a tough initiation for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan as he understandably struggled to support Josh Bruce. Source: AFL Photos.

4) Do We Have A Plan B Or C?

Richmond. Melbourne. Sydney.

Putting aside the Geelong game, in each of our three other defeats we have been found wanting to a fair extent and haven't been able to execute our desired game plan but the is a consistent theme and it involves our clearance and contested game style being taken out of the match as well as our run through the corridor. Of course, being able to play one intended game plan for all four quarters isn't something that can be called upon weekly as there happens to be an opposing side trying to prevent that from occurring.

If you had told me that the Swans would only conjure up two goals between Lance Franklin, Tom Papley, and Isaac Heeney, I would have been ecstatic with that result and suspected that we had taken the four points but this wasn't the case.

In each of those three games, our defense has kept us in the hunt, conceding an average of 81 points in these games but it is the other end of the ground where the issues have occurred after scoring an average of just 58 points and that is even with Aaron Naughton playing in two of those games.

Encouragingly there is still enough to work with as it shows that even when the run of play is against us and we aren't able to get the game on our terms we are still giving ourselves the chance to pinch a win but sooner or later these types of games can become a concerning habit.

5) The Top Four Race Is Well And Truly Open

Victory over the Swans on Sunday would have most likely cemented our place in the top four and given us a clear path for a home qualifying final but it wasn't to be as we are now tied with Geelong and are just one game clear of Brisbane and Port Adelaide who are in fourth and fifth spot on the ladder respectively, albeit with a massive percentage advantage. We are back in the rat race once more.

We have entered the last third of the season and have six more opportunities to get our season back on track and rediscover that chemistry and cohesion we displayed for the majority of the first half of the year.

We haven't finished in the top four since 2010 and to potentially find ourselves at risk of falling out of it after our opening 10 rounds would be a massive failure.

The Bulldogs have two sides left to play that are currently in the top eight as well as an improving Essendon and Gold Coast Suns unit so it won't be easy but we are still good enough to get the job done and lock up a top-two spot.