The Western Bulldogs on paper have stars all over the field, but, over the last six weeks, they only have one player who is in the top 40 kicks in the competition.
The deep dive comes following the Dogs’ shock loss to Hawthorn on the weekend, which has left their finals hopes teetering.
Champion Data’s Daniel Hoyne has revealed that if you can shut down the Dogs at clearance, they can’t hurt you.
“I just want to talk about their ball-use as a team and then the individual players,” Hoyne told SEN’s Sportsday.
“Over the last six weeks they are using the ball by foot the second worst of any team in the competition.
“As a result of that, their inability to use the ball effectively is putting so much pressure on their clearance game.
“If they don’t win clearance and the ball goes back the other way and they’re starting from the back half, because they are using the ball so poorly, they are no threat to you offensively.
“Over the last six weeks they’ve only scored 60 points from their D50, 16th in the competition. This is why the clearance game is so important to them.
“Hawthorn took that away from them on the weekend, and they only won the clearances by six, then the Dogs have nothing to throw back at you because when they do actually win the ball, they simply can’t use it.”
Caleb Daniel, colloquially discussed as one of the best kicks in the competition, has been particularly poor over the last six weeks.
“So, Bailey Dale is the exception. He is a top-40 rated kick in the competition over the last six weeks. He’s the only Bulldogs in the top 40,” Hoyne added.
“Caleb Daniel – it’s amazing the drop-off in his ball-use. He struggled to win the ball against Hawthorn and GWS, but even when he does win it, there’s none of that creativity that he’s been renowned for.
“He’s kicking eight per cent below expectation. Adam Treloar is seven per cent below expectation. Aaron Naughton is kicking four per cent below expectation.
“If this aspect doesn’t improve for the Dogs in the next fortnight, I’d be very surprised if they’re able to beat Geelong in Round 24.”
The Bulldogs host the lowly West Coast this weekend in a chance to get their season back on track.