The Western Bulldogs’ glaring defensive woes have hindered their chances of maximising their returns on a star-studded list.<\/p>\n
However, Kane Cornes isn’t buying the excuse any longer.<\/p>\n
With the likes of Rory Lobb, James O’Donnell and Jedd Busslinger headlining their key defensive stocks, the Bulldogs’ issues behind the ball saw them fall well short of the mark in 2025, missing the eight despite winning 14 games across the season.<\/p>\n
Leaking scores far easier than coach Luke Beveridge would have liked, the strength of the side’s elite midfield and the consistency ahead of the ball kept them in games and in the hunt for a finals place, however, without managing to source any fresh faces to solidify their weak back half, the Dogs enter 2026 without the necessary defensive reinforcements to hold them amongst the top contenders.<\/p>\n
That said, Cornes believes that individuals within a defensive set-up aren’t the be all and end all, citing other successful defensive units in comparison to the Dogs’ as reference for what can be achieved without a stacked back 50.<\/p>\n
Having already tipped the Bulldogs to win the Premiership, Kane doesn’t believe that their defensive unit is as bad as it’s often made out to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s going to be the overwhelming feedback if the Western Bulldogs don\u2019t have the success that they should with this list,\u201d Cornes told SEN Breakfast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there defence that much worse than other teams that have had success in the competition? I don\u2019t think it is at all!<\/p>\n
\u201cCollingwood make a prelim final – and it\u2019s mainly the key defenders when we\u2019re talking about the Western Bulldogs, the lack of key defensive depth that most people in football point to \u2013 Collingwood made a prelim final with Billy Frampton, Darcy Moore, who is not the player he was at all three years ago, and Jeremy Howe, who had a ripped groin at 35 years of age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey made a prelim. So, you\u2019re telling me that the Western Bulldogs\u2019 defence of O\u2019Donnell, Lobb, and Busslinger, who will be a very good player, is any worse?<\/p>\n
Sam Edmund: \u201cBusslinger will be a very good player?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cornes: \u201cHe is going to be as good as Frampton, let me tell you that! Who has been to three clubs\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmund: \u201cAt least Billy Frampton can get out there! Jedd Busslinger isn\u2019t even getting picked!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cornes: \u201cThey have enough options. How many injuries did Collingwood have last year?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey rushed Jeremy Howe back in because they were desperate for anyone to come and take a body as a key defender in that lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Port Adelaide\u2019s 2024 prelim final defence of Aliir Aliir – yep, very good player, gun – Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, Ryan Burton, Logan Evans and Lachie Jones any worse than the Western Bulldogs defence? No, it\u2019s not!<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Brisbane\u2019s premiership winning key defenders of Harris Andrews \u2013 awesome, legend, great player, no worries. But, then it\u2019s Ryan Lester and Darcy Gardiner. Are they any worse than what the Western Bulldogs have got?<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then you\u2019ve got the most star-studded front half of the ground you\u2019ve ever seen! Give me the Western Bulldogs\u2019 defence if I get their midfield and their forward line over any of these.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think it\u2019s an excuse that we shouldn\u2019t be giving to them, because other teams have had a lot of success. Adelaide finished on top of the ladder with their key defenders \u2013 Mark Keane and Nick Murray. Keane had seven kicked on him by (Jack) Gunston in one of the great baths you\u2019ve ever seen in a finals series.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of stars that they have got in that lineup is frightening. All that needs to happen is that the defensive mechanisms from a team perspective come into play.<\/p>\n
\u201cTim English is one of the great behind the play ruckman that we\u2019ve got right now. He can get back and support \u2013 he was playing in defence in the practice games, no worries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have enough pieces to be able to move around to be able to support this defence. I just don\u2019t want the excuses!\u201d<\/p>\n
Listen to the full chat below:<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Western Bulldogs’ glaring defensive woes have hindered their chances of maximising their returns on a star-studded list.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-422581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}