Luke Beveridge addressed the media ahead of the team's clash with Gold Coast on Saturday, and westernbulldogs.com.au lists the five key takeaways from his press conference.
On the Gold Coast
Beveridge analyses a young Suns squad who will arrive in Ballarat having been hit by injury, with co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May ruled out of the weekend's game.
"They've definitely made some hefty changes, some forced and some not. I think the youth of Gold Coast add some exuberance, and some guys playing their first game always pumps a bit of energy into your squad, so they'll be buoyed by that.
"They (Lynch and May) are two considerable outs for them when you consider the nature of the way they play, so they'll be difficult to cover.
"I think both lists are decimated a little bit and so it's a bit more of a level playing field when you consider that.
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What he's looking for
Beveridge talks about the importance of establishing some consistency in his team’s game after an opening six weeks marked by some fluctuating form.
"We're looking to build on a reasonable performance last week and get some momentum. We've probably had three OK ones, and three we'd rather forget, and that's not ideal.
"So, those fluctuations, whatever the reason, you try and eliminate and have some consistency and uniformity in your performance.“
"So this week is an opportunity to establish some consistency over the course of two weeks and then to maintain it after that."
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On Easton Wood
Beveridge gave an update on captain Easton Wood, who is expected to miss this weekend and probably next week with a hamstring injury.
"It seems as though it might just be a couple of weeks.
I think that he'd probably be out next week as well but we're hopeful he'll play the week after that."
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On the Dogs' contested and tackling game
The Bulldog's tackling and contested ball numbers have fallen on last year and Beveridge was asked how much focus will be placed on this area of the game and weather a new approach is needed.
"Not necessarily, but we need to respect that because their contested game has been pretty strong this year.
"I think the way that our games have played out sometimes don't lend themselves to a high tackling game.
"We've played a couple of high possession games, probably kept the ball off the opposition a couple of times and then at other times we've been outplayed and been off with just that close game, and the intensity of the contest.
"I think last week was a reasonable template for us as far as our competitiveness and how combative we were in close, and we'll need to be to counter their energy in there on Saturday."
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On Jackson Trengove
Trengove was injured early in the season and is making his way back through the VFL. Beveridge provided an update on where the versatile tall is at.
"He fractured his scapular in Round 2 and missed some footy, and then he's played the one back against Geelong at VFL level and he really just felt his way through that game; making sure it was right.
"Even though everything told us that he was ready to play he probably didn't play with the same sort of aggression that he normally does because he was still feeling it a little bit.”
"So he'll go out at VFL level on Saturday night and put his best foot forward and I'm sure he'll be picked over the course of the next few weeks."
