bornadog
24-05-2017, 11:48 AM
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Western Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy has dispelled suggestions that his side are in the midst of a premiership hangover, believing midfielder Tom Liberatore and other dropped premiership players this season are merely suffering a temporary form dip.
Liberatore played for the club’s VFL side over the weekend after a disappointing season in the AFL so far, with seven other players who took to the field in the Dogs’ historic Grand Final victory last year also spending time with Footscray so far this season.
While Murphy believes it is entirely possible that the 2016 premiership may have had various effects on different players across the club, he stopped short of believing Liberatore’s form is symptomatic of a premiership hangover.
“A lot of sides will say we’ve got great depth, we hang our hat on that, that we don’t have any great stars but our list runs pretty deep,” he said on SEN Breakfast’s The Wednesday Crunch.
“I’m not so surprised that we have whipped through a few changes.
“We’re still really young. We have guys who are really old, but our list is actually really young.
“A guy like Libba, he’s gone through a flat patch. I’m don’t necessarily buy in to ‘oh that’s because of last year.”
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge suggested on SEN’s Crunch Tme on Saturday that the on-baller may not have entered the season with an AFL-standard physical condition - a view that the Dogs skipper doesn’t necessarily agree with.
“That caught me by surprise,” Murphy said.
“He may not have come back in absolute tip-top nick but I would have thought he was fit enough.”
Murphy believes that the Dogs’ best football is still amongst the best in the competition, as exemplified by the club’s stirring six goal to one third quarter against the Cats, but says that they need to find ways to play to that high intensity for longer periods if they are to win more games.
‘It was probably our best footy for the year, the third quarter. I was really excited about the last quarter that we could get over the top of them. I was really flat after the game because of that three-quarter time thought.
“It left us just as quickly. That’s the really disappointing bit, the last quarter the Cats were too good.
“I still think we’re one of the best sides in the comp. We show up every week and whilst we have little patches, we play it out and we go right to the line.
“Our best is as good as anyone’s, but there is also that we are built with that inherent awareness that we 5-4 and we need to start winning more games.”
link (https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/23/we-re-not-suffering-a-premiership-hangover-murphy/)
Western Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy has dispelled suggestions that his side are in the midst of a premiership hangover, believing midfielder Tom Liberatore and other dropped premiership players this season are merely suffering a temporary form dip.
Liberatore played for the club’s VFL side over the weekend after a disappointing season in the AFL so far, with seven other players who took to the field in the Dogs’ historic Grand Final victory last year also spending time with Footscray so far this season.
While Murphy believes it is entirely possible that the 2016 premiership may have had various effects on different players across the club, he stopped short of believing Liberatore’s form is symptomatic of a premiership hangover.
“A lot of sides will say we’ve got great depth, we hang our hat on that, that we don’t have any great stars but our list runs pretty deep,” he said on SEN Breakfast’s The Wednesday Crunch.
“I’m not so surprised that we have whipped through a few changes.
“We’re still really young. We have guys who are really old, but our list is actually really young.
“A guy like Libba, he’s gone through a flat patch. I’m don’t necessarily buy in to ‘oh that’s because of last year.”
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge suggested on SEN’s Crunch Tme on Saturday that the on-baller may not have entered the season with an AFL-standard physical condition - a view that the Dogs skipper doesn’t necessarily agree with.
“That caught me by surprise,” Murphy said.
“He may not have come back in absolute tip-top nick but I would have thought he was fit enough.”
Murphy believes that the Dogs’ best football is still amongst the best in the competition, as exemplified by the club’s stirring six goal to one third quarter against the Cats, but says that they need to find ways to play to that high intensity for longer periods if they are to win more games.
‘It was probably our best footy for the year, the third quarter. I was really excited about the last quarter that we could get over the top of them. I was really flat after the game because of that three-quarter time thought.
“It left us just as quickly. That’s the really disappointing bit, the last quarter the Cats were too good.
“I still think we’re one of the best sides in the comp. We show up every week and whilst we have little patches, we play it out and we go right to the line.
“Our best is as good as anyone’s, but there is also that we are built with that inherent awareness that we 5-4 and we need to start winning more games.”
link (https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/23/we-re-not-suffering-a-premiership-hangover-murphy/)