Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has praised his team’s persistence and strong mindset after an upset win over West Coast on Sunday kept its 2020 finals hopes alive.
The Bulldogs overcame Eagles by just two points – their most narrow win of the season – to keep them in the hunt for a spot in the top eight with two games remaining.
The win also snapped a five-game losing streak against West Coast, which dated back to 2016.
The Bulldogs reeled in an early 22-point deficit and hung on to claim victory in a frantic final term, to avenge their missed opportunity against another premiership fancy, Geelong, in Round 14.
“For our boys to come again after they hit the scoreboard and were up – it was a good game of perseverance for us,” Beveridge said after the game.
“They’ve got some key players out – we know that – but they’re a well-drilled, well-coached, very strong outfit.
“I felt like we had it on our terms at times, but we just couldn’t manufacture six points each time we went inside 50.
“The boys didn’t lose heart. They continued to persist. You could see in the last quarter just some of the individual bravery. Players trying to drag each other over the line and win the game. They’re great signs for us.
“It’s a good one for the memory banks to win a close one against a strong outfit, and it’ll give us just that little bit more belief.”
MATCH CENTRE | All the player and team stats from the Bulldogs' win over West Coast.
The Bulldogs won’t be inside the eight by the end of Round 16, but their season is well and truly alive with games against Hawthorn (in Adelaide) and Fremantle to finish.
“There’s still a few sides who are a sniff away from an opportunity at the end of the year, so it’s great we still have the will and desire to see if we can get there,” Beveridge said.
“We won’t be much different to how we started the round. We’ll probably be outside of the eight, so we haven’t really advanced.
“We can’t afford to drop any games to make it, so it won’t necessarily be a bad thing that we’re not in there at the end of this round.
“We’re still alive. If we dropped tonight’s game we’d probably be in trouble, so all it does is keep us going with that sense that if we continue to win, you never know.”
