Western Bulldogs stars cop vicious abuse from fans after shock loss to West Coast Eagles leaves their finals chances hanging by a thread: ‘Put your heads down! Pathetic!’
Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli has lashed out at the club’s fans after video footage emerged of the club’s stars coping with beatings as they left the field following their shock loss to the West Coast Eagles on Sunday afternoon.
With their season on the line, Coach Luke Beveridge’s side put in a lackluster performance at Marvel Stadium and were ambushed by a team that had won just four of their previous 47 games.
Trailing by nine points at three-quarters time, West Coast finished stronger than their much higher-rated opponent with the first four goals of the final term to complete a famous 14.8 (92) to 12.13 (85) win. scoring that will end up being the biggest setback of the season.
The Bulldogs will need to beat Geelong at the GMHBA Stadium this Saturday night for a chance to qualify for the finals for the fifth season in a row.
Footage uploaded to social media after the match showed fans shouting swear words at Bulldogs stars as they left the field in ugly scenes reminiscent of the behavior of Carlton supporters earlier in the year.
Western Bulldogs players got it from irate fans as they left the field
“Show your true colors, friend!” said a voice. “You accept that, don’t you?”
Another voice shouts, ‘Pity! Miserable! F**king pathetic! Nonsense! Put your head down! Heads down! Miserable!’
Another deluge of swear words then seems to be aimed at underperforming coach Luke Beveridge: ‘Get out of the club – you fucking screwed it up!’
Bontempelli had a message for the supporters who erupted at the team.
“It’s never justified,” he said.
“You understand that there is a wide range of people who support you and are emotionally involved in the game. You don’t accept it, but you understand why people are so passionate.
‘You want people to support you and be proud of your efforts. I understand, but I don’t accept it.’
Underperforming coach Luke Beveridge was singled out for a spray by a supporter
Beveridge, who coached the Bulldogs to the 2016 premiership, is on contract until the end of 2025.
But the heat will befall Beveridge if the Bulldogs fail to make 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 to continue leading the Bulldogs.
“Sometimes you have to evolve, and if we’re in this sort of static area from a performance standpoint right now, we’ll figure out why that is.
“But from a leadership perspective and coaching the team and the club, I feel very comfortable with my tenure.”
West Coast Eagles perhaps provided the surprise of the season with their performance
Beveridge said the challenge of beating the Cats at Geelong, where the Bulldogs last won in 2003, was one of the biggest in his nine-season coaching career.
“It’s all about staying together,” he said.
“Anytime in this game you face adversity, which we are, it’s about making sure you’re glued together as you look at the week, trying to find optimism.”
“It’s been 20 years since we won there (in Geelong), and no matter how much we didn’t win in my time, we all inherit the previous 10 or 11 (lose).”
The result drags the Eagles off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since May 21, meaning they will avoid the club’s second wooden spoon if North Melbourne fails to beat Gold Coast next week.
West Coast sat in the box-seat for most of the season trying to snare Harley Reid, this year’s nominal No. 1 draft pick, as they occupied the bottom of the table.
It comes just days after the West Coast board began to consider the future of 2018 premiership coach Adam Simpson following last week’s record derby defeat to Fremantle.
Due to the defeat on Sunday, the Bulldogs remain outside the top eight
The Bulldogs lacked the spark that Eagles stars Tim Kelly (32 possession), Jamie Cripps (five goals, including three in the last quarter) and Oscar Allen (three goals) had in spades.
“It’s been pretty tough these past few weeks. Really proud of them,” said Eagles coach Adam Simpson.
“Obviously we were strengthened all week after a poor game against Fremantle, and our younger 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.