Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n
Former Western Bulldogs vice president Susan Alberti says the team\u2019s winless start to the AFLW season is unacceptable and their coach Nathan Burke has questioned his team\u2019s professional standards as they slumped to an 0-5 record.<\/p>\n
At the midway point of the season, the Bulldogs are 17th \u2013 only ahead of GWS, themselves without a win \u2013 and have endured blowout losses to Geelong (48 points) and Melbourne (42 points) and fell to newcomers Hawthorn in round two. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Western Bulldogs are yet to register a win this season.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AFL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n Alberti is a vocal advocate for women\u2019s football and for her beloved Bulldogs but she described the Dogs\u2019 most recent loss, by 18 points to St Kilda at the reopening of Whitten Oval last Friday night, as embarrassing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was embarrassing watching our young women last Friday night,\u201d Alberti told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are aware this performance was unacceptable and have been working hard this week to turn things around … I want our Western Bulldogs AFLW [side] to give everything they have to pull off a win.\u201d<\/p>\n Alberti had wanted to attend the game but had prior commitments with AFL Masters. She said she loved them but was \u201cdisappointed thus far\u201d.<\/p>\n The Bulldogs\u2019 2023 slump comes after they made the finals last year for the first time since winning the premiership in 2018. They won seven of their 10 home-and-away games to finish seventh, though they bowed out in the elimination final to Collingwood by five points.<\/p>\n But with only five rounds left of the season, there is no way for the Dogs to even equal their efforts of last year.<\/p>\n After their latest loss, Burke slammed his side\u2019s sub-par professional standards.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not fit enough. I said that to the girls in there, we\u2019re not going to make excuses over that because I think there are probably things outside of injuries, within our control, that would make us fitter,\u201d Burke, who signed a two-year contract extension in 2022 and moved from a part- to full-time role, said.<\/p>\n Nathan Burke and captain Ellie Blackburn chat during the loss to the Demons.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AFL Photos<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cJust understanding the level of professionalism required now \u2013 skipping an ice bath or not eating properly, that doesn\u2019t cut it anymore … I\u2019m not going to point fingers at anyone, it\u2019s general across the group. The whole league has raised the level, and we have to accept that and go with it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n He added the group was \u201ctoo nice on the football field\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to find that grunt that \u2018Lamby\u2019 [Kirsty Lamb] and \u2018Blackers\u2019 [Ellie Blackburn] do, so that for 72 minutes out here, they\u2019re fighting for every single ball\u201d.<\/p>\n Former AFLW player Kate McCarthy, who is part of the Bulldogs coaching group, said their injury-interrupted pre-season and youth in the squad has impacted performance, but it\u2019s really their inconsistency that was hurting them.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cEven though we did get that result of making finals last year, I think we\u2019re still a pretty young and developing team minus kind of the key players [Blackburn and Lamb] … We don\u2019t have that sort of real core group that\u2019s been around for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Amy McDonald of Geelong handballs during the round one AFLW match between Geelong Cats and Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium, on September 02, 2023, in Geelong, Australia.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n The Dogs, like other inaugural clubs Carlton and Brisbane, lost a slew of crucial players through expansion to rival sides over the years, including Katie Brennan and Monique Conti to Richmond, Bonnie Toogood to Essendon and star defenders Libby Birch to Melbourne and Emma Kearney to North Melbourne.<\/p>\n However, McCarthy said after reviewing games this season there were probably three of the five they should have won but had too many missed opportunities and let easy goals slip late in games.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we\u2019re good, we\u2019re really, really good and we could probably match it with most teams in the competition, like we did for a couple of quarters with Geelong … But I think the major thing for us is our best performance compared with our worst performance in games is the gap\u2019s just way too big.\u201d<\/p>\n McCarthy said footy IQ and in-game tactics were other major areas of growth for the Dogs, including knowing when to attack and when to defend a lead. The Bulldogs kicked three goals in quick succession against St Kilda in the second quarter but then conceded three majors before half-time, giving away their lead.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re off for one quarter, or 10 minutes in a quarter, the game\u2019s developed to a point now where you\u2019ll get punished for your mistakes,\u201d said McCarthy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve gone into every game this year feeling like we\u2019re a good chance of winning … We just haven\u2019t quite been able to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n As the Bulldogs won\u2019t be qualifying for finals this year, McCarthy said an internal aim was to keep developing, especially younger players who have been thrown around different positions, and gain some confidence with some back-end wins.<\/p>\n That starts on Friday night at Whitten Oval against the eighth-placed Blues, who have three wins and two losses so far this season.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just want to make sure that we work on those things that we\u2019ve identified in the first five weeks have cost us games and make sure that they don\u2019t come back up in the last five weeks,\u201d said McCarthy.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully we can finish off really strong and maybe even up the ledger heading into the last round.\u201d<\/p>\n For daily updates on all the AFL trade period action, sign up for our Real Footy newsletter. <\/b><\/p>\n\u2018That doesn\u2019t cut it\u2019<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018The gap\u2019s just way too big\u2019<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\n
Most Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
From our partners<\/h3>\n