“Staggered”: The most surprising element of Bulldogs criticism

Mark Bickley has given the Western Bulldogs a back-handed compliment in regards to where they sit in 2025.

The Bulldogs were the subject of more criticism from Kane Cornes on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters when he again took aim at Luke Beveridge in the wake of the weekend’s 11-point loss to Adelaide.

“No coach does less with more than Luke Beveridge,” Cornes said.

“Sam Power has handed him a high-powered sports car and he drives it like a busted up Camry.

“To think they could be out of the eight ahead of Round 19 with the list they’ve got is not harsh language at all.

“They are absolutely stacked.”

However, Crows great Bickley does not believe the Dogs have the best list in the league and has actually defended Beveridge for what the Dogs have achieved under duress.

“The thing that staggered me is when Kane said he ranks their list number one,” Bickley said on SEN SA Breakfast.

“He said Sam Power has delivered Luke Beveridge the perfect list. It takes the coach to be involved in that to deliver that list.

“The list manager brings players in but the coach makes decisions on players like Caleb Daniel and Jack Macrae, and not to play those guys through the midfield. In doing so, you open up spots for Ed Richards who was a half-back flanker 18 months ago.

“Then you think about what they’ve had to deal with this year. Adam Treloar has hardly played a game. He was an All-Australian last year.

“Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, one of the brightest young forwards in the competition, hasn’t played a game.

“You miss Marcus Bontempelli for the first five weeks and Sam Darcy for eight weeks.”

Furthermore, Bickley believes that the fact the Dogs have had to blood inexperienced AFL players on their way to 10 wins thus far suggests Beveridge has done a decent job.

The two-time premiership captain analysed the Doggies’ list, picking out 10 players who he believes would struggle in better teams.

That indicates to him that perhaps the overall quality of the list at Beveridge’s disposal is not quite as good as others think.

“In terms of the list, I looked at the team that played on the weekend, I’ve got 10 players that don’t make Brisbane’s side,” he continued.

“Lachie Bramble, Nick Coffield, Sam Davidson, Josh Dolan, Riley Garcia, Cooper Hynes, James O’Donnell, Caleb Poulter, Laitham Vandermeer and maybe Bailey Williams doesn’t get in to the Lions backline.

“I reckon the Brisbane list is the best and those 10 players don’t make the Brisbane team.

“He’s given opportunities to a lot of those younger players and we’ve seen some of them grow enormously.”

Despite the negativity surrounding the Dogs, Bickley remains bullish that they’ll still do some damage in September.

“Joel Freijah has been enormous. Moving on a player like Jack Macrae has allowed Freijah and Ed Richards to move in there. Richards has been a revelation,” Bickley continued.

“The way Rory Lobb has been handled. He was wallowing in the VFL, he couldn’t get a game, he was going to be traded again. He’s been reinvented as a key defender.

“I think that a lot of the stuff they’ve been able to do with Darcy and Bontempelli injured for big sections of the year, we’ve hardly seen Treloar, (Cody) Weightman hasn’t played at all. Rhylee West has come in and been a super player for most of the year.

“There’s been a lot of players who have really developed this year. I know the record doesn’t read great when you’re 1-7 against top teams, but they lost to Gold Coast by 10 points in Darwin, they lost by two goals to Geelong at GMHBA, they lost by a goal to Collingwood at the MCG, they lost to Adelaide by 11.

“They haven’t been a mile off it. I’m still relatively bullish about where they can finish.

“They’re one of the teams I wouldn’t want to come up against finals. They’ve got enough firepower and star factor to really trouble teams.”

The ninth-placed Dogs with a 10-7 record next meet the reigning premiers the Lions at the Gabba on Friday night.