Quote Originally Posted by jeemak View Post
You haven't heard the coach call us out as being a young list that wants to get better quickly multiple times the last year or two? Or is it that you haven't seen the churn of players and the sidelining of others for younger developing options?

Whether we should be or not is completely debatable, but we are.......and I don't think anyone at our club will ever publicly call out us having to rebuild or actively rebuilding ever again after Smorgon called out our refresh (or reset or whatever) requirements nine years ago.
I've heard him say we are impatient to improve but I've clearly been blissfully unaware that we've been in fact rebuilding. I wonder if that will impact our memberships next year? Any idea of when the rebuild started?

This from the 13th of September this year

"Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge described his team as "impatient" and "in a hurry" as they ramp up their pursuit of a second premiership miracle in four years"

As I've always said, we're impatient, we're in a hurry, we feel like you can have dramatic improvement pretty quickly. We feel like if you've got a spirit in your team and a collective mind that you can beat anyone, then who knows what may happen. I don't think that's going to be any different.''


This from June 2019

Anyone who thinks the Western Bulldogs concede that they are in a long-winded, four-to-five-year rebuild, could be off the mark.

Coach Luke Beveridge is clearly aware of where his squad is at. But he’s also mindful that the changing face of the competition makes it hard to plan long term.

He's expecting to win and is frustrated when they aren't. And he says his players share that frustration.

The Dogs haven’t played finals since they win the premiership in 2016. And they are unlikely to do so this year either.

But Beveridge appears impatient to get back among the top teams in the competition.

And losses such as the 61-point flogging the Dogs copped from West Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday night are an annoying speed hump in that road back to success.


I really need to stop believing in what Bevo says because that doesn't sound like a rebuild to me in fact far from it. I also understand that in his pressers he does a quick about face and then says that we are young and immature. It's confusing and conflicting statements from the coach.

But normally a rebuild would see a number of younger players coming through and persevered with more than going after the likes of Treloar, Martin, Hannan, Bruce and Keath because outside of Bailey Smith, Richards, Naughton, Vandermeer and maybe Gardner we don't seem to be 'pumping games' into many of the younger guys. West, Schache and Young being ignored in a rebuild is a bit confusing as well as why we would maintain marginal players which is more of a sign from a contending season.
I wonder if we have an issue with our footy identity? Are we genuine contenders or on another long rebuild or maybe we've got a foot in each approach?

Perhaps it's a rebuild by stealth more than us being a genuine contending side? Sounds like I could easily book my annual leave for September next year more than waiting for October. The one thing I am in full agreement with Bevo is that I'm getting impatient for a deep run in the finals especially now that somewhere along the way we've given up on that and started yet another rebuild.