LUKE Beveridge was the defensive mastermind who crafted a Hawthorn backline containing just one true key defender into a major weapon in consecutive premierships.
Now in his second season with the Western Bulldogs as senior coach, he hasn't taken his eye off that part of the ground for one moment. As the 2016 season reaches the halfway point, his backline is the most miserly in the competition, conceding just 760 points so far, an average of 69.1 per game.
On Sunday at Etihad Stadium, the Dogs took on the Eagles, who averaged 104.6 points a game, and kept them to 75 points, just enough to preserve an important eight-point win.
Making the feat all the more remarkable - and this points to Beveridge's true genius - is that the Dogs have been without captain and spiritual leader Robert Murphy since round four, rebound specialist Jason Johannisen since round five and have also missed key players Easton Wood and Matt Suckling at critical junctures.
At Hawthorn it was the system that got things done and it is the same at the Bulldogs. It explains why 2015 All Australian Easton Wood can be a pre-match withdrawal and the unheralded Fletcher Roberts can fill the void and play with unbridled confidence, or why ninth-gamer Marcus Adams can keep Coleman Medal contender Josh Kennedy to five touches and a goal.
The Bulldogs are blessed with emerging talent everywhere, but premiership teams are built on the back of great backlines. The evidence is mounting that that is just what Beveridge is constructing at the Whitten Oval.
The takeout for West Coast is that a team with genuine premiership aspirations has now lost four of five on the road. In three games in Victoria in 2016 the Eagles have kicked seven goals (Hawthorn, round 2), 12 goals (Geelong round 7) and 11 (Western Bulldogs, round 7).
The Eagles won't win the premiership by kicking cricket-like scores on their quirky Domain Stadium deck. They need to grind out wins outside Western Australia although credit where it is due, they rallied late in the final term and got back within a kick, giving the Bulldogs a real scare before Tom Liberatore kicked the sealer.
But the damage was done and the Eagles now find themselves two games adrift of second place. They don't appear good enough to finish in the top two or to win finals on the road. 2015 was their gilt-edged chance to win a flag, they couldn't get it done and their path to the Grand Final this year seems considerably harder.
