The Western Bulldogs' defensive line-up remains a week-to-week proposition after the loss of Bob Murphy and Jason Johannisen to serious injury, coach Luke Beveridge said after Friday's loss to North Melbourne.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But he said it was the forwards who had underperformed in the 16-point loss at Etihad Stadium.
Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said his players were in control for most of the game and were playing football that would compare well to other teams' in the finals.
For a top-of-the-table match between the unbeaten Roos and second-placed Bulldogs, the match was a fairly grim, low-scoring affair.
The Doggies managed to get the ball inside their forward-50 on 10 more occasions than the 'Roos, but their lack of height showed and they could not turn those opportunities into goals.
At 194cm, North Melbourne's Jarrad Waite was a beacon in the Kangaroos' forward line and he finished the match with four goals.
Beveridge said he felt a bit like he was constantly plugging holes in the Bulldogs' backline after the loss of several top players to injury – Murphy is out for the season, Johannisen's injury is likely to sideline him for another nine weeks and former Hawthorn defender Matthew Suckling hurt his ankle and will not play for a month.
Beveridge sent Lachie Hunter into defence after quarter-time, to add creativity and dynamism to the backline and said the team had done well to keep the Kangaroos to 61 points.
"That back end has changed quite significantly now and it'll probably be a week-to-week building block type of thing," he said.
"I know Jarrad Waite got away from us a couple of times, but they've got some really big powerful forwards, North."
Beveridge said the Bulldogs had been able to create opportunities, but had not used the ball well.
He was disappointed they had struggled so much to kick goals.
"We felt like it was there for the taking in the last quarter, but at no stage did we get that goal to give us a sniff, so it's a bit frustrating," he said.
Scott said North's strong aerial marking in both the back and forward lines had an impact on the game.
"We had, on paper, a height advantage, but it's one thing having that on paper and taking advantage of it on the field," he said.
Scott said the Western Bulldogs' were highly skilled within contests, so that was an area North had focused on in the lead-up.
"When it is really hot in the contest, you don't necessarily get really attractive spectacles and really high-scoring games, but from a coaching perspective they're great wins."
