Western Bulldogs vice-captain Marcus Bontempelli says his side needs to get better at seizing the moment at important periods in games.
The Bulldogs were neck-and-neck with Fremantle early in the final term in Perth on Saturday night, before the Dockers kicked away in a late burst.
It was a similar story against Collingwood a fortnight earlier, where the Bulldogs pushed the 2018 runners-up before falling short late in the contest.
“There’s often times in games, and close games particularly, where there’s a particular energy required,” Bontempelli said onRSN Breakfast Club.
“Teams sometimes pulse, and at times with probably not a younger group, but a less mature group, you’re not as able to get a hold of the momentum at times.
“I think that’s probably been our season a little bit now, for the last couple of weeks particularly – there have been significant momentum shifts in games, particularly from opposition teams.
“We just haven’t been able to wrestle it back enough.”
Bontempelli acknowledged that – and making the most of opportunities in front of goal – were two things the Dogs needed to rectify quickly.
And he believes there’s not much between being able to generate that momentum – like in the final-term comeback against Hawthorn – and being on the other side of the swing.
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“We’re still having opportunities like that, to do that in quarters,” Bontempelli said.
“It’ll happen. We’ve just got to believe, and stay with it.
“We’re confident that our best football, when we do it for long enough and opportunities are going to arise throughout the game, that it’s going to eventually turn for us.
“And I say eventually – it could be this week.
“That’s how we think as a football club and as a playing group, that you’re only one game away from really ‘peaching’ it and hitting one out of the middle.”
