A Strong Start for the Western Bulldogs
Western Bulldogs fans could not have asked for a better start to the season. After securing a victory over the reigning premier Brisbane at the Gabba and delivering an 81-point thrashing of their rivals, Greater Western Sydney, at Marvel Stadium, the Dogs made their way to Adelaide Oval on Friday. There, they faced a determined Adelaide side and managed to withstand a strong final quarter to achieve a 3-0 record for the first time since 2021, placing them at the top of the ladder.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance so far in the 2026 season. He mentioned that the team had successfully passed every challenge thrown at them thus far.
“I’m not a great forecaster or tipster, but before the season, if you asked me what I thought were the most challenging parts of the fixture for us, it would be Brisbane at the Gabba, the Crows here, it would be Fremantle at Optus and it would be the Gold Coast Suns at People First Stadium,” he said.
“So to tick off two of them… it’s pretty encouraging. Ultra proud of the boys to hold sway under pretty significant conditions and pressure in the last quarter. I mean the Crows kicked some extraordinary goals and we couldn’t quite hold that back.”
A Thrilling Match of the Round
In what was arguably the match of the round, Beveridge’s team came out on top with a six-point victory. The hero of the game was speedy utility Oskar Baker, who delivered a magical snap from the pocket in the dying stages of the match.
While Baker’s goal will undoubtedly be remembered as the highlight of the game for fans, Beveridge emphasized the importance of the efforts of his key defenders in containing Adelaide’s threats. He specifically mentioned Buku Khamis, James O’Donnell, and Rory Lobb, highlighting their crucial role in diffusing several situations with their presence in the air.
“Our doctors are ultra conservative, so they wanted to take James off just to make sure he was okay, which he was. He got a bit winded out (on the interchange) side of the ground. There was a period of instability there with him off and their big threats; to cover that we had to ask Bailey Williams to go back and play back there for a period of time. He and the other big defenders were quite exceptional tonight.”
A Hard-Fought Victory
The Bulldogs led by three goals at the final change of ends, but they were quickly overtaken by a fast-finishing Crows outfit in front of their home crowd. However, the Bulldogs found their resolve in the final few minutes to reclaim the lead.
This task was made more difficult due to a malfunctioning game clock late in the match, according to Beveridge.
“No one knew what the time was until it was about five or six minutes to go,” he said. “I think everyone was flustered because you weren’t sure how urgent it was based on the clock ticking down. But I thought our players managed it pretty well.”
Beveridge also noted the challenges of the current rules, particularly the centre bounce six-six-six, which makes it difficult to gain possession unless running specific patterns from the ball up.
“When you have a small margin, you are definitely risk managing. You are just trying to make sure the opposition doesn’t score.”
