The Western Bulldogs are the most in-form team in
the league, winning four of their past five games by an average of 71 points.*
They are doing this in the way we have come to expect from the Dogs, that is through
their A-grade midfield. However, their dominance in this area recently has been
remarkable even by their standards.
In their past five matches, the Bulldogs have averaged
57 points from stoppages – three goals more than any team expect Geelong, and
almost six goals more than their opposition (see table below). Their clearance
differential has been +12, where generally a team is doing well to be +5. The
Dogs are winning the clearances both in the centre and around the ground.
Since Luke Beveridge began coaching the Bulldogs in
2015, they have a pretty good history of winning the stoppages, particularly in
the current decade (see table above). They ranked first for clearance differential
last year, and have ranked top three in every season since 2021. They were first
in this category when they bulldozed their way to the premiership in 2016. They
have also become better at turning this strength into scores, ranking first in
differential for points scored from stoppages last season.
Somewhat remarkably, the Bulldogs have achieved this
without a dominant hit out ruck – Tim English is an excellent player around the
ground and decent clearance winner himself, but usually gets beaten in the ruck
contest. They can also seem to do it without being great at winning first
possession. They are breaking about even with their opponents in first
possession at stoppages this season, yet are still managing to be far better at
getting the first effective disposal.
The Bulldogs have also maintained this strength through
significant changes in personnel. Jack Macrae, Josh Dunkley, and Bailey Smith have
all left the team in recent seasons. Adam Treloar has been injured for most of
this one. The mainstays in the middle over the Beveridge years (injuries aside)
have been Marcus Bontempelli and Tom Liberatore. Beveridge has kept managing to
find good support for his leaders, usually from unlikely sources – most recently
former half-back Ed Richards, Carlton discard Matthew Kennedy, and second-year
player Joel Freijah.
It takes more than just winning the stoppages for a team to win the premiership, as the Bulldogs have found out over the years. It can certainly give a decent boost though. Even if the Dogs cannot maintain this extraordinarily high level of dominance in stoppages, this area should stand them in really good stead over the rest of 2025.
*Yes, I’m aware of your record this year Collingwood, and still stand by this statement.
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