The Western Bulldogs were back to their very best against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night.
Luke Beveridge’s Bulldogs dominated from the first bounce to come away with a 60-point victory to temporarily silence the doubters after a tough week in the media.
However, consistency, or a lack thereof, has appeared to be a theme for the Dogs over the last few seasons. They have at times flopped between the magnificent and the mediocre from week to week.
To shine a spotlight on that assumption, there is a peculiar stat engulfing the Doggies after thumping wins.
Dating back to the 2021 Grand Final, the Dogs have lost five times after putting up a win of 50-plus points.
That season’s Preliminary Final saw them crush Port Adelaide in Adelaide by 71 points before going down to Melbourne in the Optus Stadium decider by 74 points. (Those two matches came 14 days apart due to the pre-Grand Final week off).
Then in 2022, they torched North Melbourne by 68 points at Marvel Stadium in Round 5. The following weekend they lost to Adelaide in Ballarat by a solitary point.
In Round 11 of the same campaign, they punished West Coast to the tune of 101 points at Optus Stadium. Just a week later they went down to Geelong by 13 points at Marvel.
In 2023, they pummelled Richmond by 55 points at Marvel in Round 21 before succumbing to Hawthorn by three points in Launceston a week after.
And more recently in Round 3, the Dogs smacked West Coast by 76 points, again at Marvel, before narrowly losing to the Cats by four points in Gather Round in Adelaide.
As far as numbers go, a loss in next week’s meeting with Fremantle in Perth appears a lock.
But the numbers don’t always tell the truth. They have had wins of 40-plus points before getting up the following week. (They’re actually 3-3 in that scenario since the end of 2021).
However, if we’re drilling down into victories of 50 or more points, the Dogs don’t seem to back it up.
Can they break the trend when they meet the Dockers next Saturday night? The last time they were at Optus against the purple they lobbed by 49 points.
Don’t worry Dogs fans, we’re not trying to rain on Thursday night’s parade - and stats certainly don’t mean everything - but we just found this an interesting little tidbit.
Western Bulldogs after wins of 50 points or more:
(Since end of 2021)
2021
PF: Port Adelaide by 71 - WIN. ✅
GF: Melbourne by 74 - LOSS. ❌
2022
R5: North Melbourne by 68 - WIN. ✅
R6: Adelaide by 1 - LOSS. ❌
R11: West Coast by 101 - WIN. ✅
R12: Geelong by 13 - LOSS. ❌
2023
R21: Richmond by 55 - WIN. ✅
R22: Hawthorn by 3 - LOSS. ❌
2024
R3: West Coast by 76 - WIN. ✅
R4: Geelong by 4 - LOSS. ❌
R6: St Kilda by 60 - WIN. ✅
R7: Fremantle by ?? - ???.❓
