The Western Bulldogs feel they are doing a lot right in attack without nailing what counts most – kicking goals.
Their inaccuracy cost them dearly in last week’s AFL loss to the Giants and it highlighted a worrying trend.
It was the fourth-straight match this year where the Bulldogs had kicked more behinds than goals.
Given they are on par with Richmond when it comes to scoring, the Bulldogs’ goalkicking radar will again be crucial on Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.
The Bulldogs were criminally wasteful against GWS, kicking 9.19.
They had a whopping eight more scoring shots, but the Giants won a pulsating clash by two points.
Josh Dunkley was a glaring offender with 0.4.
“Our scores per inside 50, I think we’re ranked second – you’d have to double-check that,” new Bulldogs forwards coach Ashley Hansen told AAP.
“So what that tells us is we’re generating our shots, we’re just not converting.
“First of all, that’s really reassuring for the players – we’re doing a lot right.
“We just have to finish off our work.”
Hansen, a 2006 West Coast premiership key forward, said there was a “chicken or the egg” element to what had been going wrong.
He noted they have a lot of players going through their forward line, which makes them unpredictable – but might also mean a lack of continuity.
Are their shots on goal coming from low-position angles? Or is it a skills problem?
“I think it’s a mix of both,” he said.
“I’d like to be addressing that issue now, not towards the back end of the year.
“We’d rather be missing shots, rather than not getting shots at all … that’s the optimistic view.”
While the Bulldogs narrowly lost to GWS, Richmond ran into the Adelaide juggernaut last Sunday and came off second-best by 76 points – their first loss of the season.
But Hansen noted the Tigers were ahead in the first quarter, against the league’s most in-form team, at Adelaide Oval.
“We know that probably the message for them during the week would have been to sustain what they did in that first quarter,” he said.
“Any young team that’s developing has a match like that, where they realise and understand the importance of playing 120 minutes – they’ve shown their best is good enough.”
Bulldogs ruck-forward Tom Boyd has also shown his best enough and was a hero of their grand final win.
While the high-profile recruit has had a quiet start to the season, Hansen works closely with him and has urged patience.
Hansen also noted that when Jordan Roughead returns from his hamstring injury, that will help Boyd.
“I have a really good relationship with Tom and the work I’ve seen him put in behind the scenes … has really risen,” Hansen said.
“He’s still a novice, he’s under 50 games – he’s playing really the hardest, most combative position on the field, which is key forward-ruck.
“We’re really comfortable with where Tom’s at and the contribution he’s making.”