The Western Bulldogs should be taken very seriously as a contender for the top eight, says a Fox Footy analyst.
Two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King is adamant the Dogs will be contending in September due to their engine room stars doing irrevocable damage at the source.
Luke Beveridge’s barking brigade is catapulting from a 67-point thumping of Fremantle last Saturday and is just half a game behind those Dockers in ninth position on the ladder entering Round 15.
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Despite being on their bye this weekend, the Bulldogs are a team to fear come the business end of the season.
“I think the pack is back,” King began on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Wednesday night.
“They are hunting. Their midfield, now, are full of talent — all the stars have returned. Ed Richards’ new role, (Tom Liberatore) is not as relied upon — ‘Libba’ is that second right-hand man to (Bontempelli) — and we know about (Adam) Treloar’s season. ‘Bont’ is a superstar and Treloar’s All-Australian.
“Let’s have a look at their clearance game to start with. Their elevated talent means around the clearances you’re tougher, you’re cleaner and you have greater ball security.
“Taking the ball from inside to out, since those guys have returned, (they’ve been) number-one in the competition. Exit by hand is a huge and underrated stat, because if you can get the ball out by hand, you get high-quality inside-50 entries, greater territory and more damage.”
The Bulldogs rank first in the AFL in both first possession-to-clearance and exiting by handball.
“They’re number-one in both those facets since those stars have come back — that is huge, don’t underestimate that,” King said.
“What does that do? It always hits the scoreboard. Look at the scoring differential over the last six weeks.”
Since Round 9, the Bulldogs have notched a league-best +105 points-from-clearance differential.
“That’s six goals in front of Sydney,” King continued. “So, put it into perspective, we’re all raving about Sydney’s midfield, (but) no one’s talking about the Dogs midfield.
“Hawthorn is +71 points, Sydney is +70 points — so, that is a massive number, and it’s all because of the elevated talent and the elevated damage.”
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King then highlighted the individual damage done by Bontempelli, Treloar and Liberatore across the past six rounds of football.
“We’ve talked a lot about Nick Daicos, OK, and he’s a hit-to target — he’s the guy they’re hitting the ball to,” said King. “So, of his clearances, there’s been 18 scores in the last six weeks, Bontempelli and Treloar 15 and 12, but they go to those guys combined about the same as what they’ve gone to Daicos.
“So, in effect, they’ve got 27 scores instead of the 18, so this is absolutely humming. Ball-winners across the field, midfielders that get damage by ball-winning — Treloar, Bontempelli, Liberatore (are) all in the top five (in the AFL in damage).
“So, if you think the Dogs are an also-ran this year, you’re kidding yourself. You’re not watching what’s happening, and we’ve seen Bontempelli now be able to play more time forward of the ball, and that (is) a win in itself.”
King made sure to laud the coalface prowess of unheralded star Treloar, who he said has one of the best initial bursts from stoppage in the competition.
“Treloar’s an absolute ripper,” he declared. “We’ve talked a little bit about him in the last couple of weeks — he has the best first three steps in the game. Boom, boom, boom, gone.
“Often, he’ll quick-kick from stoppage, but I think this is when he’s at his best — lightning-quick hands, that’s the Dogs when they’re on. You can’t even see how quick they are.
“I think he’s in ripping form with his assessment of where the ball is likely to fall. Then you go to ‘Bont’. Now, if you finish in front of ‘Bont’, you’re gone. He just pushes you in. He’s so strong, he just moves you in and (wins) the ball back for himself.”
Of Richards, King said that while casual observers “don’t even notice him” on the field, he “does the basic brilliantly”.
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Concluding, King hailed the Dogs’ ability to pressure opponents before extracting the ball from congestion.
“Their ability to come in, to squeeze in, and then squeeze out is as good as what you’ll see in the competition,” he told Fox Footy.
“So, this ability to do it now with elite-level talent is going to challenge the Sydney Swans. And put it on the map now, they’re playing finals — it’s just a matter of whereabouts they finish on the table and how healthy they are when they get there.
“They’ve got selection pressure on for the first time in a long time, and now they’ve got the wildcard of Bontempelli forward. Bontempelli as a target, over the last two weeks, has been targeted nine times inside forward 50 (and) the team has kicked six goals from those nine targets.
“The more you see him there, the better they’re going to be. I’m a massive fan of what he’s done, particularly over the last three or four weeks given their health. Don’t snooze on the Dogs.
“They’ve always played well against the best. (They’ve) got the second-best percentage against top-eight teams, so just be very wary of writing off the Dogs.”
After their Round 15 bye, the Bulldogs return to Docklands to play North Melbourne.
The Dogs play four more matches under the Marvel Stadium roof — including two meetings with the Kangaroos — as well as a ‘home’ game in Ballarat against GWS to close out the home-and-away campaign.
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