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"Same story every year": Simpson's concerns over underdelivering Dogs
Jaiden Sciberras • August 10th, 2026 8:30 pm
It’s the same old story for the Western Bulldogs, who, despite locking up a September berth, have proved once again that they are so far from a finished product.
Since Round 13, the Dogs have failed to knock off a side within the top 10. Coming up against North Melbourne, who hadn’t accomplished that feat all season, it felt like the sort of easy kill that Luke Beveridge’s men thrive on.
That wasn’t to be. The Roos came out with something to prove, firing early and holding the lead for the entire contest to win by 23 points on Thursday night.
Slipping into ninth place, the Wildcard initiative means that the Dogs have done enough to feature in the post-season.
However having now lost two in a row and holding an average losing margin of 46 points against top six sides, Adam Simpson doesn’t carry much confidence in their profile moving forward.
As the former Eagles head coach explained, the story has hardly evolved for the underdelivering Dogs.
“Is this three years in a row?” Simpson asked SEN’s Whateley.
“It’s just been the same story every year.
“Their talent at the top end is A+. Their mid-range talent is okay, and the bottom six… (Beveridge) is trying to get the best out of them, but they are not good enough.
“You miss a few players throughout the year and all of a sudden, you get to six weeks ago and they’re not happy – ‘we’re not going to win the flag playing this way, let’s try a few different things’, like Bevo does.
“I don’t think they’ve worked. They’ve tried – even the centre bounce swivel, they dropped that after a quarter.
“They’ve broken down their offence. They were number one last year with a bullet. They’ve focused on other things at the expense of being effective in that front half, and that was a problem two years ago.
“They had lots of inside 50’s but they couldn’t score, so they’ve fallen down there.
“I don’t know what they are doing in terms of the discussions around their offence, but it looks like there’s a breakdown in confidence and execution.”
With that in mind, Simpson isn’t holding much faith in their finals hopes.
“I’m not sure what to make of them,” he said.
“They are probably the easiest team to play in the Wildcard Round from a form point of view and injuries.
“Tim English went off late, I’m not sure what’s happening with him, (but) that’s a big issue.
“There is a lot of work to do in the off-season with the Bulldogs. They are working on so many things, but it’s probably list related as much as system.”
The Western Bulldogs face the in-form Blues this weekend in a Wildcard shaper at Marvel Stadium.
