Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says his side now must win all five of their remaining home-and-away matches to secure a finals berth, following a testing 10-point loss to Brisbane on Friday night.
The ninth-placed Bulldogs could well finish the round two wins outside the top eight pending other fixtures, with Beveridge admitting his side can ill-afford another slip up in its bid to reach the finals.
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The Bulldogs finish their regular season with games against Essendon, GWS Giants, Melbourne, West Coast and Fremantle, all of which are in Melbourne.
“They’re all crucial. We can’t (look) too far ahead. We’re just going to play three (teams) below us, and two above us,” Beveridge said.
“You’d have to say we’d need to win them all.”
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The Bulldogs’ loss to Brisbane was their eighth defeat in nine matches this season against teams currently above them on the ladder.
Their only win against a top eight side came against GWS in Round 7, amid a three-game Giants losing streak.
“It can be different things,” Beveridge said about the Bulldogs’ failure to deliver against the teams in the top eight.
“I could go into a whole series of things … personnel, the variables in the game, but one of the things is you need your group to be totally committed to certain aspects of the defensive contest and stoppage phases, and you can’t do that inconsistently against the better sides.
“We’ve done it inconsistently against the better sides. We’ve got to keep chipping away at the defensive aspects.”
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Beveridge noted he was proud of his team’s ability to stay in the fight against the Lions, who only sealed their 12.14 (86) to 12.4 (76) win with a goal on the final siren kicked by Will Ashcroft.
“Brisbane were probably the better side throughout the course of the night, but I like the way we persevered,” he said.
“We hung in there, but there’s some brilliance through their team and that told at different stages of the game.
“Obviously we’re disappointed because we always travel to win, but credit to Brisbane. They were just too good on the night. They came through the middle of the ground too often. They put kicks in there that we need to be able to defend.
“Our team defence, we need to do better. Regardless of who you play, as a team and as a group defending together, we just have to be more cohesive.”
Beveridge was confident that Laitham Vandermeer and James O’Donnell, who both suffered ankle injuries in the loss, would be fit for next Friday’s clash against the Bombers at Marvel Stadium.
No major inclusions are set to return for the Bulldogs in the near future outside of James Harmes (illness), with 2024 All-Australian Adam Treloar still 4-7 weeks away from returning after a calf injury.