Link




It’s a statement most thought fanciful following a summer of upheaval at Whitten Oval and three years in the bottom quarter of the ladder.


But there’s plenty to like about the Bulldogs’ September chances.

Luke Beveridge’s side has a very favourable draw. The Dogs play all nine teams below them on the ladder in their remaining 11 games. Their only two matches against current top-eight teams are Collingwood at Etihad Stadium and West Coast in Perth.


Along with a soft draw, they have a healthy list and more importantly are playing good footy. It’s a great fixture for a team that has already beaten five sides in the eight.


On Saturday night the Bulldogs meet St Kilda — two exciting, young sides on the rise.


I fancy the Bulldogs to push for a flag earlier than the Saints. They are a couple of years ahead of St Kilda in their development with both heading in the right direction.

The Bulldogs’ form line is extremely impressive and a pointer of greater things to come. Few expected them to post wins this year against West Coast, Richmond, Adelaide, Sydney and Greater Western Sydney. And they pushed Fremantle to 13 points in Round 7.


You certainly can’t say the same about St Kilda, in terms of who it has beaten — Gold Coast, Bulldogs, Brisbane Lions and Melbourne.


The thing I like about both lists is that their effort has been tremendous across the whole year. That’s always a reflection of the coach, so that’s a big tick for Beveridge and Alan Richardson.


Brendan McCartney laid a strong platform for the Bulldogs during his three years as coach with his focus on winning contested footy and Beveridge has impressively changed the Dogs’ ball movement. That’s lifted their scoring from an average of 81.1 points per game last year to 91.0 this season, but importantly the team still has contested ball competitiveness.


The Dogs will field 12 players aged 23 and under, the Saints 10.


Remarkably, the Dogs’ side contains five teenagers — Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Boyd, Toby McLean and Lukas Webb (all 19), plus Bailey Dale (18).


The sides don’t include names such as Mitch Honeychurch, Nathan Hrovat, Lachie Hunter, Lin Jong, Tom Liberatore and Clay Smith, all players in the 23 and under group. It’s a powerful position from which to build a list that can challenge for a number of years.

The Dogs are also growing a couple of weapons. I love bigger bodied midfielders and I’m just as big a fan of matchwinners come finals time.


Bontempelli and Jake Stringer fit the bill perfectly.


Granted Stringer was drafted at No.5 and therefore he’s expected to be a gun, but at just 21 he looks something special.


He needs to develop a bigger tank in the coming years. His fadeout was part of the reason why the Saints overran the Bulldogs in Round 6.


He ran out of juice after a big first half and his numbers across the board are slightly down in the second half of games compared to his first-half output.


The Saints don’t have a midfielder in Bontempelli’s size range — 192cm and 90kg. St Kilda’s emerging midfielders are full of small forward types like Jack Billings, Jack Lonie and Jack Sinclair.


They’re smart players but I’d like to see some bigger guys in the midfield. It’s a key ingredient in winning finals.


Tom Boyd is going to take time, but he’s going to be a good one, a big strong target. So in he and Stringer the Bulldogs have two genuine key forwards who are each capable of kicking 50 goals a season. Throw Stewart Crameri into the mix and there’s decent potency in attack.


The Dogs still have plenty of work to do. They could do with an experienced key defender in the coming years, particularly from a finals point of view.

Having the experience of Robert Murphy, Matthew Boyd and Easton Wood in defence has been a smart move by Beveridge to assist young talls like Jordan Roughead, Fletcher Roberts and Joel Hamling, and veteran Dale Morris returns from injury tonight, but another big defender with experience would greatly assist the group.


Nick Riewoldt’s future is huge for the Saints. How much longer has he got? How will the Saints fare in attack when he retires? Apart from the concussion a few weeks ago he doesn’t look like he’s slowing down.


They have found one in Josh Bruce.


How well the Saints can build their spine will depend greatly on the development of Paddy McCartin and Hugh Goddard — they could each fill a key forward and key defensive post for a number of years.


St Kilda’s forward line is its most inexperienced area, hence the need for Riewoldt to continue for a little longer. The veteran’s leadership is huge for the development of McCartin, Bruce and Tim Membrey.


It appears the Bulldogs have more pieces of the puzzle in place and we know more about their goal-to-goal line.