Western Bulldogs President Kylie Watson-Wheeler has penned a letter to club members, following the end of the 2023 AFL campaign.
To our Bulldogs members,
As the dust settles on our 2023 AFL season, there’s no question we all have a sense of shared disappointment. You, our members, are incredibly passionate and rightly hold us to account. We don’t take this responsibility lightly.
We all expected to qualify for our fifth straight AFL finals series, and for a long period of the season, it looked like we would achieve that. The footy Gods delivered for us on Saturday when our team broke the 20-year drought with a win in Geelong, but as Sunday came around, it wasn’t to be. It was a disappointing end to a season that held so much potential, and we take responsibility for the result.
As we look back on our year, ultimately it was inconsistency and missed opportunities that took their toll.
We know this is a game of small margins, and in the end we didn’t take enough of those chances when they presented themselves, despite putting ourselves in strong positions to win several close games.
The reality is, we didn’t meet our own expectations, or those of our members and fans.
However, despite the obvious disappointment, we saw some promising signs for our future.
Marcus Bontempelli led us with absolute distinction, Tim English emerged as the competition’s best ruckman, Tom Liberatore went to an even higher level, and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan announced himself as a future star.
Arthur Jones, James O’Donnell and Caleb Poulter made telling cameos as first year players, Liam Jones returned as a defensive rock, and we have the untapped ability of Sam Darcy to look forward to.
So, where to from here?
In this business, there’s no time to dwell on the past, or sit still. We must move on quickly, evaluate comprehensively, and put robust plans in place to improve. Identifying improvements and making the necessary changes is key to our future success. That process started as the season was still running, and we ramped up the day after our season concluded.
During the season, we identified a need to analyse areas of our football program which we felt needed adjustments, to give our players the best chance to succeed. It means that there will be change in the off season. Our Board member Luke Darcy, Executive Director of Football Chris Grant, along with Ameet Bains and myself, will lead the difficult, but necessary changes.
There has been plenty of external talk about Luke Beveridge recently. As we’ve said publicly on numerous occasions, Bevo is contracted for the next two seasons, and we remain confident in his ability to lead this team. He has a strong track record of getting the best out of our playing group, managing a high performing team, and achieving success.
We have a deeply connected playing group - connected to both each other and their coach. I have the privilege of witnessing this personally.
The team has high expectations of themselves, and we are encouraged by their desire to lean in and provide feedback on how we need to improve. Sharing the responsibility of our performances with each other, the coaching group and the broader club. We are emboldened by their desire to turn our performance around quickly.
With the strength of leadership we have within our club, and the detailed understanding of our people and processes, we are confident we can make the adjustments that we require.
Bulldogs people are resilient, and we stick together in good times and bad. We’ve been doing so for over 140 years.
As we look ahead, we turn our attention to our VFL and AFLW teams.
Our VFL team won 10 straight games on its way to qualifying in sixth position on the ladder – a brilliant achievement. Footscray will take on the Casey Demons this Saturday, with 18 Bulldogs-listed players eligible to take the field.
A few hours later, our AFLW team kicks off its 2023 season against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium. After having tasted finals action in Season 7, we’re excited to see what our girls can achieve in the next few months.
In the second half of the women’s season, we look forward to welcoming you back to watch footy at VU Whitten Oval, which will be an exciting milestone for our club. When our AFL players return to start their preparations for the 2024 season, they’ll come back to a transformed facility which will be the envy of the competition.
It will be a symbolic and energising new beginning for players and staff, as we start our climb back up the ladder.
As the AFL season ends, on behalf of the Club I’d like to thank our record 56,000 members for your ongoing support. You turned up to Marvel Stadium and Mars Stadium in massive numbers. No-one at the Club, including the players, take your support for granted.
Thank you for being Bulldogs.
