Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon believes Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge needs to win the hearts back of his players, after a tumultuous start to the 2018 season.
After losing to Greater Western Sydney by 82-points in Round 1, the Dogs failed to respond, falling to the West Coast Eagles by 51-points at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Beveridge acknowledged the Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership side, and the one playing now, are worlds apart, but Lyon thinks the coach needs to recapture the magic from the flag winning campaign.
“Win the hearts back,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“They’re not playing with any great heart.
“I’m not saying they’re scared, I’m saying that victory in 2016 was full of heart.
“They just went and played a way where we looked at them and said, look how much they love each other, look how much they brought into the coach, the coach has sold the plan and they’ve brought into it wholeheartedly.
“They sacrificed, they chased, they harassed, they were tough and they were ferocious.
“That’s heart. The last two weeks, they’ve had no heart.
“They’ve had no emotional investment in the way they played.
“They were witches hats in the first game and on the weekend, it was the same. There was no response.”
The Dogs are sitting last after the opening fortnight, and Lyon wants to see an aggressive bounce back this Sunday against Essendon.
“It isn’t even about them winning because I don’t think they’re that good and that’s ok because that’s the life cycle of football,” he said.
“In terms of having a crack, they gave no response. You can lose the ability to try hard. I put it more down to that than confidence.
“Their tackle and pressure numbers are down through the cellar.”
The Bulldogs laid just 42 tackles against the Eagles, and recorded a pressure rating of 166.