The Look Ahead will be the staple pre-season content piece, setting a tone for all 18 teams. The plan is to use them as a scene setter for team trends and individuals. In other words, don’t expect predictions, expect topics to be introduced – from both a list build and on-field perspective.
The story of the Western Bulldogs is a familiar one at this point. 2024 presents the newest opportunity to flip that on its head.
Player contracts
This is a complete personal theory, with no inside information whatsoever and completely from my own head: At this stage it feels like the Bulldogs have earmarked 2025 as the last year their current core will be capable of making noise.
There is very little committed past that year as it stands, with 2026 a year where Liam Jones will turn 35, Tom Liberatore and Jason Johannisen 34, Adam Treloar and Rory Lobb 33, Jack Macrae 32 (although contracted to 2027), and Marcus Bontempelli 31, although for the captain normal aging rules probably won’t apply.
They’re all important parts of the lineup to varying degrees. Without them it’s undoubtedly the next phase of life at the kennel. It looks like – and again this could be me going 2 + 2 = 24 – the Bulldogs have half an eye on what’s next.
List demographics
Jordan Croft’s arrival continues an inevitable march to the Bulldogs having an entire list of 200-centimetre father-son and academy players.
Elsewhere if all turns out well fitness-wise with the arrivals from other clubs, it should be a markedly better bottom six in a Bulldogs best 23.
If it doesn’t, there’s plenty of pressure on the fringe, second tier, and young players to step up immediately and help the core compete for finals.
Create your own Bulldogs Depth Chart
Changes in personnel
In:
From other clubs: Lachie Bramble, Nick Coffield, James Harmes
National Draft: Jordan Croft, Joel Freijah, Aiden O’Driscoll, Ryley Sanders, Lachlan Smith
Out: Josh Bruce, Hayden Crozier, Mitch Hannan, Robbie McComb, Toby McLean, Tim O’Brien, Cody Raak, Roarke Smith, Jordon Sweet
What more can Luke Beveridge draw out of this group?
The strengths and weaknesses of the Bulldogs are well known and don’t need more time dedicated to them in mid-February before games have begun. The team’s article page can sum it up for those who really want to sift through it all again.
Those weaknesses have also remained static for a few years now, to the point where it’s fair to wonder:
a) Whether they can be rectified under this current setup
b) What must be done to fix them
Reports over the summer suggest a club of moving pieces, one where some coaches and top-line staff aren’t overly happy with each other. It doesn’t add up to the type of settled environment needed to coax a more disciplined defensive performance and becoming more than a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ team on offence.
Teams’ defensive setups are becoming too good to lose that way; the Bulldogs need to be more incisive when in possession to progress.
Is Beveridge and his semi new-look football staff capable of putting all that together in 2024?
What is success for the Bulldogs in 2024?
If the above point is answered emphatically in the positive, they should be a top-six side, winning at least one final.
As we move up the ladder in this Look Ahead series, more teams will be in a position where their intention is to win now. It’s where the Bulldogs are at this year.