THE Western Bulldogs 52-point loss to Adelaide could be made mu ch worse tomorrow when it finds out the full extent of star midfielder Ryan Griffen’s shoulder injury.

Griffen first clutched his left shoulder in the second quarter and then went down again in the fourth and coach Brendan McCartney was clearly concerned after the match.

“It looked pretty sore when he came off.” McCartney said.

“We’ll find out tomorrow.”

The Bulldogs were strangled by the Crows after the first quarter and failed to score a goal in the middle two quarters.

McCartney said in wet and windy conditions his young side needed to take more risks.

“[At the] start of the third quarter we almost refused to kick the ball forward and mucked around with it.” He said.

“When you do that the opposition get their wall set and on a wet and greasy day it’s crucial.

“We were hanging in there till half time today.

“That’s what we’ve got to learn to do is to hang in there for as long as it takes till something opens up.

“It might not have guaranteed a win today but it might have kept the game a lot closer and then you never know what is going to happen.”

Captain Matthew Boyd said while the wet and windy conditions were tough it was their lack of execution that hurt the Bulldogs the most.

“We train at Whitten Oval everyday so it’s not a bearing on the game at all.” Boyd said.

“Certainly not a lack of direction or effort, we just got it wrong and didn’t execute the gameplan.”

One highlight for the Bulldogs was the stunning form of 2008 Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney. He picked up 30 possessions and kicked two goals and looked back to his best after being crippled by knee injuries.

“I didn’t coach him when he won the Brownlow but I do know at that time he was pretty scary when he was on the other team.” McCartney said.

“He was terrific today and it’s a credit to him.”