The Western Bulldogs hit their bye second on the ladder with 10 wins and having surpassed the pre-season expectations of many.
The club is placed well to contend and build in the back-half of the season, but Jordan Lewis has one concern.
“I suppose if you had an issue with them, I think what we saw in the Melbourne game is they didn’t have a plan B,” Lewis told AFL Nation.
“Once plan A was taken away, once the corridor was taken away and they were tempted into those long switches, they weren’t happy with the down the line game.
“Then once the second half came in and they wanted to go down the line, their forwards were a bit too high.
“That would’ve been a great learning game for them.
“When they come up against Melbourne again they’ll probably play that game a lot differently.
“They get Josh Dunkley back and Adam Treloar back in five to seven weeks, Easton Wood will come back, I think they’re well placed.
“I think the bones of their game is very good. The issue with their defence is how they set up and they’re not going to chance that. They’re always going to be aggressive because they realise what it gives them from an offensive threat point of view.”
Gerard Healy isn’t yet sure whether the Bulldogs’ new fast paced overlap and handball game will stand up come finals.
“I don’t think we know the answer to that (whether their handball game stands up in finals) because it’s an evolving beast,” he said.
“I’ve seen it break down twice, once against Melbourne, once against Richmond, but I’ve also seen it sustain itself through others.”
The Bulldogs resume their season next weekend, facing Geelong on Friday night.
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