Many have been left questioning why the Western Bulldogs didn’t add a gun key defender during the trade period.

Well, it’s not as though they didn’t try.

It’s a clear area of need for Luke Beveridge’s side the Dogs ultimately wasn’t able to address over the last fortnight.

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But not without some swings.

They were firmly in the mix for Jack Silvagni before St Kilda pounced late on the free agent.

The Dogs then went hard after Cal Wilkie and effectively forced the Saints to renegotiate the contract of the star defender and likely their next skipper.

And it’s understood 2025 All-Australian squad member Mark Keane is another name the Dogs targeted after also holding interest in fellow Crow Jordon Butts.

The Western Bulldogs were in the market for a key defender.Source: FOX SPORTS

Of course, Adelaide asked the question of Ryley Sanders, so you wonder if either Keane or Butts were tied into that enquiry.

Despite those attempts, nothing came to fruition in the end.

“There’s a lot going on behind the scenes, we did get into some pretty meaningful conversations with a few others,” Dogs player acquisition and strategy manager Michael Regan told AFL Trade Radio on Thursday.

“Callum (Wilkie) wasn’t the only player we approached. The reasons for why they didn’t happen are layered and multi faceted.

“But there’s also a longer term strategy in involved in both those approaches and how we’re looking at key back.

“Sometimes getting these things out hurts your ability to maybe look at them again in 12 months.”

The wording out of the Kennel all along was they were only going to move on a key back if it was a clear upgrade. Not get one for the sake of it to paper over the cracks.

But they in fact were aggressive in hunting that star defender to book-end their loaded forward line.

“Yes, we’ll explore SSP (Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period) at some level. But we have to make sure whoever we bring in is going to make a meaningful impact for the football club,” Regan added.

“That will be the lens we look at that through and there’s a much longer term strategy at play. We may not see the fruits of that labour until next trade period or even the trade period after.

“We want to make sure we’re aggressive in looking at top-end talent.”

Merrett’s bid to join Hawks fails | 01:28

Steven May was another player linked to the Dogs, but there ultimately wasn’t much of a market for the Melbourne backman, who turns 34 next January, in the end.

Leek Aleer also didn’t suit their needs.

So who else was out there that’s actually attainable?

Tylar Young was the only traditional key back to move clubs during the exchange window, crossing from Richmond to West Coast.

The 192cm Jai Serong, who switched from Hawthorn to Sydney, is more of a hybrid.

The Dogs are more in need of a brute stopper to supplement interceptors Rory Lobb and James O’Donnell, so even Silvagni probably wouldn’t have addressed that.

They just weren’t able to find it. Or at least not for the right price.

Connor Budarick was the Dogs’ sole trade addition to effectively replace the retired Taylor Duryea’s old role as a small lockdown defender.

Meanwhile the club’s rocky Jamarra Ugle-Hagan marriage ended as it traded the former No. 1 pick to Gold Coast, but Buku Khamis wasn’t granted his wish to move to Carlton.

The Dogs’ key back stocks are further thinned with Liam Jones’ departure as the club look to bounce back from a brutal ninth-placed finish with 14 wins.

A quiet trade period at Whitten Oval comes ahead of a year the club will be targeting Port Adelaide superstar Zak Butters, who can become a free agent in 2026.

So preserving assets could help, particularly when you look at the steep price Charlie Curnow commanded and what Essendon was wanting for Zach Merrett.

While Butters looms large, you can also expect the Dogs to again be in the market for a key defender. But as per the plan, only if they think it will raise their ceiling.