After an inspiring 10-point comeback win over Melbourne over the weekend, the Western Bulldogs find themselves in the top eight with just four games to go.
Despite this, defensive duo Ed Richards and Alex Keath are cautious of not getting too carried away.
Both were impressed by the team’s maturity and belief against the reigning premiers, particularly by some of the lesser experienced players late in the game.
“I thought it was a really mature performance from us - we kept persevering and didn’t let (Melbourne’s) three or four goal runs deflate us,” Richards told Triple M on Sunday morning.
‘We just kept our energy up, especially in that third quarter, where our pressure sort of lifted a bit – that carried into the last quarter as well. The work from Jamarra and the boys up forward to get us over the line was awesome.”
Keath echoed Richards' thoughts on SEN 1116.
“For some of our lesser likes to play the games they did, and have a pretty even spread across the board was pretty impressive. It was a pretty special time in the rooms after the game,” he said.
“We probably wouldn’t like the momentum swings to be as dramatic as they are, because we tend to cough up a bit of score, but it was a credit to the group to be able to galvanise and come back from 27 points down.
“We want to play an aggressive and attacking style of football, so to put 110 points on the board against Melbourne who I’d say are structurally the best defensive side in the competition, was really, really pleasing.”
The Bulldogs will next meet ladder-leaders Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, with games against Fremantle, GWS and Hawthorn to close out their home-and-away season.
Richards said taking some momentum into this weekend’s game will be significant.
“We were super pumped to come back in that last quarter and get over the line - Melbourne and Geelong are probably the benchmark teams, so to be able to beat (Melbourne) and carry that momentum into the Geelong game this weekend will be really important,” he said.
“There was a lot of emotion, but we’re wary of not getting too ahead of ourselves. There’s still a lot of football to be played for us to make finals.”
Keath said the group looked forward to testing themselves against the Cats.
“We’re honestly just trying to progress our game each week and look to improve,” he said.
“We have been very inconsistent throughout the year, but the ladder doesn’t lie. If we are able to put together some footy together that gets us there in the end, we will have earnt it.
“We’ve got Geelong and Fremantle as well, so these next weeks are going to be a big test but we look forward to getting down to Geelong this weekend and testing ourselves against another benchmark of the competition.”
The Dogs and Cats will do battle from 7.25pm this Saturday night.
