Macrae In; Coffield, Richards Out - The Western Bulldogs Team Luke Beveridge Should Pick v West Coast Eagles

Despite the Western Bulldogs securing victory against the Gold Coast Suns in Ballarat last Sunday, an abundance of changes are set to be made ahead of the Bulldogs’ clash against West Coast, at the more familiar setting of Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

Changes to the defence specifically are inevitable, as the Bulldogs suffered heavy casualties in that particular area of the ground. Nick Coffield injured his shoulder very early on in an incident that will see him out of action for three months, while Ed Richards has entered concussion protocols and will also be unavailable at least for this week.

The good news is that there were several strong performances for Footscray in the VFL last week, as they came from behind to defeat the GWS Giants by 17 points.

With no Nick Galea this week, Matthew Donald has been forced to ponder the changes on his own, and thrash out what the Bulldogs might do at the selection table.

Matthew Donald

More challenging that predicting the changes last week, was predicting whether there would be any changes at all. Coach Luke Beveridge has a reputation for sticking fat with his players, even during the occasions where the are susceptible to below-par performances.

This week he has no choice. Nick Coffield (shoulder) and Ed Richards (concussion) are certainties to come out of the side, and some of the performances in the VFL were so strong that they simply can’t be ignored.

Let’s start with the bleeding obvious right out of the gates: Jackson Macrae had 47 disposals and 16 clearances against the Giants. I’ve always been in favour of allowing him to build up his fitness in the VFL, so that he’s running at 100% capacity when he is recalled to the senior side, but surely that time has now arrived. He’s now turned out three times for Footscray and has looked drastically better with each showing; he could well reach 60 disposals if he turns out for Footscray again this week.

The next inclusion largely hinges on what the Bulldogs choose to do with Bailey Williams. Starting in the midfield last week, he was thrown into defence when Coffield went off, and performed well. If the Dogs choose to keep Williams in the midfield group, it leaves an opening down back for one of Luke Cleary, Taylor Duryea, or possibly even James O’Donnell to come into the side.

However, I think the performance of Oskar Baker is worth factoring into this equation. Coming on as the sub last week, he collected 19 disposals and booted a career-high three goals. It’s hard to see him playing as the sub again. It’s form that deserves a promotion, and I think he’ll start on the wing, moving Bailey Williams into defence once again.

It leaves the Bulldogs lacking slightly in defence both in height and numbers, but I think the Bulldogs will be prepared to take the risk against an Eagles side that is undermanned and undersized up forward, particularly given the absence of Oscar Allen.

Some other options worth considering are Riley Garcia, who collected 41 disposals and kicked two goals for Footscray, who would likely replace Laitham Vandermeer. While Vandermeer didn’t have a great Round 1, he improved markedly last week, and I think that would be enough to help him keep his spot. Rory Lobb also booted four goals, but its hard to see Sam Darcy being dropped after his encouraging performance on Sunday.

Any one of them could hold legitimate claims to starting as the Sub on Sunday, but James Harmes has served his one-week suspension, and every indication over the summer has been that he's been in the Bulldogs first-team plans, so it would be a surprise to not see him among the 23.

CHANGES (to the starting 22)

IN: Jackson Macrae, Oskar Baker

OUT: Nick Coffield, Ed Richards

SUB: James Harmes