Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli has backed his side to bounce back strongly in 2026, despite the frustration of missing finals this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dogs finished ninth with 14 wins and the third-best percentage in the competition, but slipped out of the eight after falling to Fremantle in a virtual elimination clash on the final day of the home-and-away season.<\/p>\n
For Bontempelli, the narrow miss was proof the group is close rather than miles away. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to let the weight and the enormity of not playing finals have you feel like a lot of things need to be fixed and changed, and I just don\u2019t believe that,\u201d he told Wide World of Sports<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI believe in this group and I think it\u2019s a young and talented group \u2026 I just think there\u2019s a couple of small but key aspects that if we can improve, that makes us a much more dangerous and consistent team.\u201d<\/p>\n Defensive tweaks and injury luck the key<\/p>\n The Bulldogs were hurt by inconsistency in defence and injuries to stars Adam Treloar and Cody Weightman, while off-field struggles saw Jamarra Ugle-Hagan miss the entire season. Bontempelli admitted the Dogs needed to tighten up their defensive discipline and manage opposition momentum swings better, but stressed that one player alone wouldn\u2019t solve the issue.<\/p>\n