Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is confident his group can still make the most of their 2022 campaign.
Sitting in 10th spot with eight wins and six rounds to go, Beveridge said the team’s weekly focus hasn’t strayed despite recent unfavourable results.
“I think if you go back and dissect every game and look for the reasons why (we lost), frustration was probably more the word I’d use - we had so many opportunities offensively where we shot ourselves in the foot,” Beveridge told media on Wednesday morning.
“We were playing what’s turned out to be the better teams in the competition, and they didn’t get us by a lot, but they got us.
“Ultimately it’s a sense of reality - we’ve got to bridge that gap with the revolving aspect of our team, and we need to make sure we do that really quickly to ensure we make the most of this year.
“That was sort of the mindset we we’re in – and we’re still in that mindset, and making the most of winning every game we can to see if we can get there at the end of the year.
“I never talk about finals – they’re ultimately in the background – but we still believe we’re an absolute chance every week. That’s really what matters to us.”
Beveridge said his group is looking forward to making amends for the past fortnight when they face the ninth-placed St Kilda on Friday night.
“We got ourselves in a really good spot – stringing some games together and even having a look inside the top eight briefly, so we were feeling pretty good about ourselves until probably halfway through the second quarter against Brisbane when some momentum shifted,” he said.
“The belief in what we do is there. I don’t think the players are feeling any (added) pressure.
“We’re excited by the opportunity of Friday night and playing against a Saints team who have been extremely competitive against some of the better sides.”
