Three-time All-Australian Nick Dal Santo has given his synopsis on the Western Bulldogs’ 2017 season, explaining why they failed to qualify for the finals series.
The Dogs became the first premier since Hawthorn in 2009 to miss the finals the year after tasting the ultimate success. Luke Beveridge’s men finished 10th on the ladder with 11 wins, and Dal Santo believes a mix of issues was the reason why they won’t be playing in September.
“My main concern was who was going to kick the majority of their goals,” he told SEN Afternoons.
“Travis Cloke was a good inclusion, they needed a big key power forward. Tom Boyd hasn’t had the year that he had in regards to September last year.
“Then I have the close competition. They had a harder draw because they finished higher on the ladder in 2016. And purely, their individuals haven’t played as well as they did last September.”
The 322-gamer with St Kilda and North Melbourne also citied the mental toll of winning a flag as a downside for the Bulldogs.
“There is a huge challenge and difference in backing up from finals success and winning a premiership,” Dal Santo said.
“It’s hard enough when you’re a mature player to understand about going to the well again and doing everything again in preseason. It starts in the preseason and there were lots of distractions over summer.
“Because they’re such a young group, the challenge was even bigger, they go away and enjoy themselves, and rightfully so. That hunger…something was missing.
“We saw it earlier in the year but we all thought they would get it right. Beveridge makes a couple of massive changes, drops some premiership players, and we think that’ll be the catalyst they need to get their season started.
“It feels like we were waiting for that for a long time. I think one of the biggest issues was the maturity and the understanding of a young playing group being able to back up.”
Despite the 2017 shortcomings, Dal Santo remains buoyant about the Dogs’ future prospects.
“I think they build from within,” he said.
“I don’t think they need to change a great deal. I think it’s all about the preseason. They need to have a month off, mentally and physically refresh, then turn up and be ready to go.”