Western Bulldogs stars face vicious fan abuse after shock loss to West Coast Eagles leaving their final chances hanging by a thread: ‘Get your head down!’ Pathetic!’
- Players bombarded by furious fans
- Ugly scenes at Marvel Stadium on Sunday
- The Eagles caused a huge upset against the Dogs
Video footage has emerged of Western Bulldogs stars facing scathing abuse from fans as they walked off the pitch following their loss to the West Coast Eagles on Sunday afternoon.
With their season on the line, coach Luke Beveridge’s side put on a listless performance at Marvel Stadium and were ambushed by a side that had won just four of their previous 47 games.
Trailing nine points three quarters from time, the West Coast finished stronger than their much better rated opposition with the first four goals of the final quarter to score a famous 14.8 (92) 12.13 ( 85) which will go down as the biggest surprise of the season.
The Bulldogs will need to defeat Geelong at the GMHBA Stadium next Saturday night to have a chance of making the final for a fifth straight season.
Footage uploaded to social media after the game showed fans shouting abuse at Bulldogs stars as they walked off the pitch in ugly scenes reminiscent of Carlton supporter behavior earlier this year.
Western Bulldogs players snatched it from furious fans as they walked off the field
“Show your true colors, mate! said a voice. ‘Do you accept this shit, don’t you?’
Another voice shouts, “Pathetic! Pathetic! Damn pathetic! Bullshit! Lower your head! Head down ! Pathetic!’
A different torrent of abuse is then apparently directed at underperforming coach Luke Beveridge: “Get out of the club – you’ve ruined it!”
Beveridge, who coached the Bulldogs to premiership in 2016, is under contract until the end of 2025.
But the heat will come on Beveridge if the Bulldogs don’t make it to the final this year with a star-studded roster headlined by Brownlow medal favorite Marcus Bontempelli.
“Absolutely,” Beveridge replied when asked if he was the man who would continue to lead the Bulldogs.
“Sometimes you need to evolve, and if at the moment we’re in that kind of static zone from a performance point of view, we’ll figure out why.”
“But from a team and club leadership and coaching perspective, I’m really comfortable with my tenure.”
Underperforming coach Luke Beveridge was singled out for a spray by a supporter
The West Coast Eagles have arguably pulled off the upset of the season with their performance
Beveridge said the challenge of beating the Cats in Geelong, where the Bulldogs last won in 2003, was one of the biggest of his nine-season coaching career.
“It’s about sticking together,” he said.
“Every time in this game when you face adversity, which we are, it’s about making sure you’re glued together looking ahead to the week trying to find optimism.”
“It’s been 20 years since we won there (in Geelong), and even though we haven’t won in my time, we all inherit the previous 10 or 11 (losses).
The result takes the Eagles to the bottom of the ladder for the first time since May 21, meaning they will avoid claiming the club’s second wooden spoon if North Melbourne fail to beat Gold Coast next week.
West Coast had been in the box-seat trapping Harley Reid, this year’s nominal No. 1 draft pick, for most of the season as they sat bottom of the table.
It comes just days after the West Coast board began considering the future of Premier manager Adam Simpson in 2018 following last week’s record derby defeat to Fremantle.
Sunday’s loss keeps Bulldogs out of top eight
The Bulldogs lacked the spark that Eagles stars Tim Kelly (32 possessions), Jamie Cripps (five goals, including three in the final quarter) and Oscar Allen (three goals) had in spades.
“It’s been pretty heavy the last few weeks. Really proud of them,” Eagles coach Adam Simpson said.
“Obviously galvanized throughout the week after a bad game against Fremantle, and our young players followed our leaders.”
The only downside for the Eagles was a hamstring injury to Eagles premiership hero Elliot Yeo, who will miss club legends Shannon Hurn and Luke Shuey’s farewell game against Adelaide on Saturday night.
