The road may have become tougher after Sunday’s loss, but key defender Jackson Trengove says there’s plenty of fight left in the Western Bulldogs in 2019.
A win against St Kilda would have seen the Bulldogs sitting ninth, and just percentage outside the top eight.
But the 27-point defeat leaves the Bulldogs in 12th place, with a must-win clash against Fremantle at Marvel Stadium this week.
“I think every game you lose is a missed opportunity,” Trengove, one of the Bulldogs’ leaders, said today when analysing the Saints game.
“We’ve probably had a few this year that we thought we should’ve performed a bit better.
“Obviously the start – they came out firing and really served it up to us, which was a credit to the way they were playing their footy.
“It took us a little bit to steady the ship, but I thought after quarter time we were able to get back into the play…. But it was all left a bit too late after their surge in the first quarter.”
After trailing by seven goals at the major break, the Bulldogs fought their way back into the contest in the second half.
It had been a positive period post-bye prior to the loss, with wins against Geelong, Port Adelaide, Melbourne and Carlton over a five-week period.
Trengove said the Bulldogs believe they can bounce back against Fremantle, ahead of a tough run home that features the Brisbane Lions (away), Essendon, GWS Giants (away) and Adelaide Crows.
“For us, it’s definitely just about the opponent next week,” he said.
“There’s no games that you can sort of pencil in.
SCHACHE A TEST FOR DOCKERS CLASH
“If you let any team in, whether it be a quarter or five or 10 minutes, you can see how quickly the game can basically be over.
“We’re in the position we’re in and we’ve got games that we’ve got to win in this back stretch of the competition.
“It’s going to be another tough one for us… but it’s about playing that four quarters of strong Bulldogs-type footy which is what we’ve produced after the bye.”
Trengove was speaking from Altona North Primary School in Melbourne’s western suburbs, with Bulldogs players getting around schools in the local community.
“I still remember when I was a young fella… I had Dustin Fletcher, who was one of my childhood idols, come out and take one of these sessions,” he said.
“It was good to give back to the kids today.”
