Western Bulldogs head coach Luke Beveridge says there are still areas his side can improve, following the Dogs’ comfortable 19-point win over Brisbane at Mars Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking to media post-match, Beveridge said while he was “rapt for the boys”, he saw the result as a missed opportunity to really hurt the Lions.
“It was more workman-like than anything, which is a shame because we were on top of things early and probably played pretty well into the breeze, but left a bit out there with the breeze,” Beveridge said.
“We got beaten one-on-one forward of centre a little bit, and we didn’t kick it that well out of congestion as the game went on.
“Brisbane are a good team (with) strong bodies, and they brought their ferocity and were always going to counter any momentum that you have and try and arrest that in their favour.
“To keep them (to 44 inside-50s) is a good result – they have a dangerous forward line. We had 20 inside-50s in the last and just kicked one goal so that’s not a good strike rate, which is a bit of a shame in the scheme of things.”
Beveridge praised emerging ruck-forward Tim English (17 disposals, nine marks, three goals) and off-season recruit Adam Treloar (29 disposals, ten tackles) for their contributions and impact.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out a player that tall is going to absorb some of the attention for others – (Tim) will get the spoils at times, and he got some today, and other times other people will get the reward,” Beveridge said.
“(Tim and our forwards) are complimenting each other pretty well.
“(Adam) is a marquee player in the competition, and we knew that when I first met him at my place before we were able to do the deal.
“We knew full well the quality of player we were getting – any uncertainty around his injury history wasn’t a concern for us.
“He’s always played well against the Dogs, and his last two weeks and again today you saw how creative and productive he was for us, and that’s exciting for our team because he’s a bit of a point of difference in some of the things we try and pull off week to week.”
The ladder-leading Bulldogs will look to maintain their unbeaten record when they host the Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium next Saturday.