Saturday’s AFL Grand Final brought an incredible contest for the most part, despite the Demons pulling away in the last quarter to win by 74 points.
It was well and truly game on late in the third quarter, with the Dogs up by three goals at one point, but Melbourne’s dominance over the dying moments of that term and then the final 20 minutes of the game saw the margin blow out.
David King has looked back and analysed the game to come up with the three things that Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge may look back and regret not having changed sooner.
1. The Bulldogs midfield mix during the momentum swing
The Dogs had plenty going for them during a fair chunk of the third quarter. Melbourne scored three quick goals throughout the middle of the term, but up until the last minute, it was a relatively even contest.
That all changed with just seconds to play before the final break, Melbourne storming out the front of centre stoppages to fire home three more majors.
King believes Beveridge will regret keeping the same midfield mix for that time, as well as early in the last term.
“What couldn’t you live with as a coach and what would wake you at night?” King told SEN Breakfast.
“I think those centre bounces, late third quarter and early fourth where he backed in Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, and Jack Macrae, pretty exclusively. I think Adam Treloar might have gone in for one or two.
“Could you have done something there with that mix?
“Could you have done something against Luke Jackson in the ruck? Because clearly, Tim English wasn’t working.
“Even throw Bontempelli as a ruckman there to get another ground-level player in and have four midfielders. Concede the tap, they weren’t winning it anyway.”
2. Petracca’s dominance
Christian Petracca was beginning to emerge as the Norm Smith favourite during the third quarter and made sure of it with a fantastic final term.
The 25-year-old was turning the tide back Melbourne’s way after the Demons were run off their feet in the second term, yet the Bulldogs didn’t appear to put any time into the midfielder.
He finished 39 disposals (24 contested) and two goals to be a clear best afield.
“Did they do enough against Petracca?” King said.
“At what point do they have to go to Plan B against Petracca. (In the) middle of the third term, he was on fire.
“If you haven’t got someone (to shut down Petracca) is that something you need to look at for next year, do you need a James Harmes type?”
3. Fritsch’s bag of six
The final issue that will have disgruntled Beveridge is Bayley Fritsch’s influence on the contest, according to King.
The Demons forward saved one of his best games of the season to last, his six goals giving him clear second-best afield honours in Norm Smith Medal voting.
King believes the Dogs could have tried to go with a different matchup against Fritsch.
“He’s finished with six goals, and I know it’s the end of other people’s work, it’s an accumulation of a few other things going wrong (for the Dogs), but I think he kicked five of his six against Easton Wood,” he said.
“Did you have to look at something different there, a different match-up, a different look?
“I think they’re probably the top three things that Beveridge would be thinking about.”
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