{"id":871454,"date":"2026-08-28T12:46:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871454\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:46:28","slug":"afl-bevo-lauds-odonnell-as-bulldogs-defence-transforms-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871454\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL: Bevo lauds O\u2019Donnell as Bulldogs defence transforms in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

James O\u2019Donnell welcomes the criticism.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Western Bulldogs defender uses it as fuel.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs\u2019 back six has long been considered the achilles heel of their premiership tilt.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell disagrees and so do the defensive figures over the past third of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I kind of like it. It fuels me a bit,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is, at times, a narrative that is a little bit … I don\u2019t think it\u2019s completely correct.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been areas in our game we needed to lift and I feel like we made a lot of ground this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cStatistically speaking, we\u2019re a pretty solid back six. Again, it\u2019s just fuel and something I don\u2019t shy away from.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been nice to prove some all those doubters wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Western Bulldogs have drastically improved their defensive profile, matching their top echelon attack by evolving into a top six side without the ball late this year.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve stopped the early-season scoring haemorrhages and won key individual battles out of their weight class.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell says the defensive line embraces the challenge because it\u2019s emblematic of the blue-collar Bulldogs from the west.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really talk about (noise) too much, it\u2019s quite process driven,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds cliche, but that\u2019s what it is: week-to-week, what we want to go after, different teams show different looks.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut for me, I personally think as well, I\u2019m sure the other boys if you ask them would probably feel similar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s us as a club in general as well, (we\u2019re) doubted but when our backs are against the wall hopefully stand up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love that side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge is always quick to pour praise on O\u2019Donnell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a stand-up lad, isn\u2019t he? He\u2019s a ripper,\u201d Beveridge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know coaches aren\u2019t allowed to play favourites, but I just admire how he\u2019s come on, for a young fella who turned his mind to playing this game in a serious sense from cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201c I made the comment to the players a while ago, he\u2019s a thumping kick, you know?<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon it started with Val Perovic, remember Val Perovic? Val had a thumping leg, he could kick it a mile.<\/p>\n

\u201cMainly at Carlton, I think, when he would roost it, the whole crowd would go \u2018oof\u2019, like that. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow when there\u2019s a highlight and Jimmy O\u2019Donnell kicks the ball, the whole lecture theatre, the players are \u2018oof\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s our Val Perovic now Jimmy, he\u2019s been outstanding and Buku (Khamis) has been tremendous. I think that backline, the composition now is probably in a place where it\u2019s favourable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The love between O\u2019Donnell and his coach is mutual. <\/p>\n

\u201cBevo and I have a great relationship, I am very lucky to have Bevo as my coach,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about how I started and how he, I guess, gave me the opportunity so early in my Bulldogs career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trust he\u2019s given me and the responsibility, he\u2019s probably given me more belief than I ever had in myself \u2013 especially at the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat as a starting point, we\u2019ve just got a great relationship in that sense, but from a backline and role point of view, he\u2019s super clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows what he needs from me and I try to provide that every week \u2013 I love playing for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018It fuels me\u2019: Bulldogs defender hits back at critics over achilles heel tag<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James O\u2019Donnell welcomes the criticism. In fact, the Western Bulldogs defender uses it as fuel. The Bulldogs\u2019 back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[439982,439983,440000,376963,387745,384226,381605,380489,376730,439957,427677,381975,439961,439989,439976,439991,439995,439959,439963,439988,386130,439992,439970,638,439965,189442,64,63,55,639,440005,439968,439997,439993,439956,4026,439962,6856,1650,740,128547,90546,439979,440001,386804,6986,20249,35431,440003,439972,1325,31588,439978,394096,14458,61029,439958,439969,322379,439966,439986,439981,439999,43961,37989,91487,439987,439998,380373,439973,1900,85,439996,420314,380878,419414,439994,377205,439964,320297,392780,379390,439960,376708,440007,390320,439990,435929,380430,439974,440006,175806,386825,376950,388184,384703,257213,439984,439985,439980,440002,439977,439975,439967,380383,364611,64631,439955,440004,26847,439971,698,415681],"class_list":["post-871454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-favourite-bulldog","tag-s-favourite-players","tag-a-backline-and-role-point","tag-a-bit","tag-a-club","tag-a-great-relationship","tag-a-highlight","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-lot","tag-a-mile","tag-a-narrative","tag-a-place","tag-a-pretty-solid","tag-a-ripper","tag-a-serious-sense","tag-a-stand-up-lad","tag-a-starting-point","tag-a-thumping-kick","tag-a-thumping-leg","tag-a-top-six-side","tag-a-while","tag-a-young-fella","tag-achilles-heel-tag","tag-afl","tag-all-those-doubters","tag-areas","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-beveridge","tag-bevo","tag-bevo-and-i","tag-blue-collar","tag-buku","tag-bulldogs","tag-bulldogs-defender","tag-carlton","tag-coaches","tag-cricket","tag-criticism","tag-critics","tag-different-looks","tag-different-teams","tag-every-week","tag-fact","tag-favourites","tag-fuel","tag-fuel-and-something","tag-fuel-the","tag-general","tag-ground","tag-his-coach","tag-his-mind","tag-james-odonnell","tag-jimmy","tag-jimmy-odonnell","tag-key-individual-battles","tag-khamis","tag-late-this-year-they","tag-more-belief","tag-my-bulldogs-career","tag-my-coach","tag-newswire-sport","tag-noise","tag-odonnell","tag-oof","tag-our-backs","tag-our-game","tag-our-val-perovic","tag-praise","tag-sports","tag-that-backline","tag-that-sense","tag-that-side","tag-the-2026-season","tag-the-achilles-heel","tag-the-ball","tag-the-blue-collar-bulldogs","tag-the-challenge","tag-the-coach","tag-the-comment","tag-the-composition","tag-the-criticism","tag-the-defensive-figures","tag-the-defensive-line","tag-the-early-season-scoring-haemorrhages","tag-the-love","tag-the-opportunity","tag-the-other-boys","tag-the-past-third","tag-the-players","tag-the-responsibility","tag-the-start","tag-the-trust","tag-the-wall","tag-the-west","tag-the-western-bulldogs-defender","tag-the-whole-crowd","tag-the-whole-lecture-theatre","tag-their-defensive-profile","tag-their-premiership-tilt-odonnell","tag-their-top-echelon-attack","tag-their-weight-class-odonnell","tag-this-game","tag-this-year","tag-times","tag-val","tag-val-perovic","tag-view","tag-week-to-week","tag-western-bulldogs","tag-western-bulldogs-coach-luke-beveridge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871454","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=871454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}