Bulldogs looking to 2018 AFL forward mix

Aug 24, 2017 - 5:34 PM Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge knows there are no easy fixes at Whitten Oval and one statistic tells the story.

Fans of the defending premiers will head to Etihad Stadium for Friday's clash with Hawthorn full of questions.

Will they play feature in the finals? Almost certainly not.

Will they see Bob Murphy and Matthew Boyd in a Bulldogs guernsey again? See above.

And how can the club recapture the effervescence that took them to their first premiership in half a century?

It starts with the forward line, which has misfired all year.

Unless Liam Picken or Marcus Bontempelli kick at least four goals against Hawthorn in round 23, Jake Stringer will win the club goalkicking award with 24 goals.

That tally - admittedly from just 16 games given the 23-year-old's rotten injury run - will be the lowest for any winner of a club goalkicking award in the league.

The personal problems of Tom Boyd and Travis Cloke, whose future remains unclear, have been a factor.

Stewart Crameri has been injury-plagued. Tory Dickson's season has been poor.

"We just haven't been equipped to get there," Beveridge said of his failed premiership defence.

"We'll look at ways to stimulate our players and our club to continue on and make more of a fist of it next year

"We'll always review every part of the football club and that will happen as soon as the season's over."

Beveridge admitted much of his side's woe lies inside the 50m arc.

" We've been high up in the inside 50 tally. Our efficency and skill and decision making has'nt been where we'd like it to be," he said.

"It's a significant work in progress."

One of those steps might be teenage half-forward Patrick Lipinski, who will make his debut on Friday night.

"He's got most things you need form that sort of player," Beveridge said.

"He's playing some really exciting football earlier in the year and fractured his collar bone.

"He's 100 per cent, he's come back in and performed to the level to provoke our thought in the match committee. It's exciting."

While a win over the Hawks will put the Bulldogs in the eight, Beveridge said the chances of them staying in the finals hunt - mainly due to percentage - was a long shot.

"For us to even fantasise about beating Hawthorn by a big margin wouldn't be the right way to go," he said.

Source: AAP