After a disappointing premiership defence in 2017, there has been little chatter come out of the Whitten Oval this pre-season and Tim Watson is delighted the Western Bulldogs are prepared to show a nasty streak.
They became the first club since Hawthorn in 2009 to miss out on finals action after winning the flag, and the former Essendon premiership star believes it is clear they have drawn a line in the sand.
“I reckon there’s a nastiness that is manifesting itself in the organisation, and I’ve got to say after what happened last year and the amount of criticism they copped about the fact they experienced a premiership hangover - I like it,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
“What they are displaying now is that they mean business as a football club. They have put that all behind them.
“They’ve turned into this nasty football club. It’s a new personality that we’re seeing that’s been developed at the Whitten Oval and I think we’re going to see some very, very different Bulldogs step out this year.
“They’ve drawn a line in the sand.”
There has been silence from key figures at the club, particularly from coach Luke Beveridge, something Watson described as unusual.
“No-one from the Bulldogs has wanted to speak since the end of the season. Nobody wants to be out there speaking,” he said.
“We’ve put so many requests in to speak to Luke Beveridge - he’s not doing anything until he has to. It is unusual.
“The first time we will hear from Luke Beveridge will be the first time he stands up to do a press conference, be it for the pre-season competition, it won’t be for the AFLX because he’s not going to be coaching the Bulldogs.
“Peter Gordon – we heard from him for the first time on behalf of the club [last Friday]. He had a crack at the AFL on a couple of occasions and there was some snarly nastiness in what he was saying.”
He believes this low-key approach has stretched into their AFLX preparation, with the club naming just a 12-man squad with just 65 games of senior experience.
“They have put the least experienced team in the competition, so they’re not taking it as seriously as some of the other clubs might be, in terms of the way they’ve approached it,” Watson said.
“The total games for their players is 65, North Melbourne their total games is 1052.”