Kings of the close ones: How the Western Bulldogs found a superpower after losing a superstar

Ryley Sanders’ first emotion when he realised Sam Darcy had wrecked his knee was sadness. Once that initial heartache dulled, it soon became apparent to the third-season midfielder how much tougher this season would become for the Western Bulldogs.

“When you lose someone of Darce’s calibre, you know that it’s got to be harder to win a premiership,” Sanders told this masthead this week. “We can definitely still contend without him. Obviously, having him would make it more likely.”

As far as injuries go, few hit a club harder than an ACL tear to a star key forward. Unlike midfielders, their scarcity makes them nigh on impossible to replace. In the weeks after Darcy’s injury, the Bulldogs had the look of a team that was learning how to play the game again.

The Bulldogs may finally have unlocked the formula to not only cope without Darcy but, at times, thrive. It has come in the nick of time.

Luke Beveridge’s men were the flavour of the month in the heady days of March after beating three of last year’s finalists in their first three games.

Just weeks later, their season was spiralling amid a four-game losing streak where heavy defeat was compounded by injuries to their spine.

Ruckman Tim English hurt his knee on Easter Sunday against Essendon. Then came the disaster in Geelong when Darcy ruptured his ACL, skipper Marcus Bontempelli hyperextended his knee, midfield heartbeat Tom Liberatore was concussed and key defenders Rory Lobb and James O’Donnell strained hamstrings. The following week, key forward Aaron Naughton landed on his head attempting a speccy. He was fortunate to escape without any structural damage to his neck.

“We went through a pretty traumatic period after the Geelong game,” Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said this week.

While fans in the stands mourned the loss of a star player for the year, the human element was felt inside the locker room.

“Losing him as a player is very sad, it’s more the person he is,” Sanders said. “He’s such a great guy. He’s such a loving teammate for everyone. He gives the time of day for everyone. He’s such a presence around the club.

“Everyone was a bit just devastated for him because he puts so much work into his craft, and he’s such a competitor. I think the way he was training in the preseason, everyone was like ‘Oh, this bloke’s ready to absolutely explode’.

“To lose him was pretty devastating, but it’s good that he’s on the road back now.”

Darcy’s absence on the field was just as keenly felt. From rounds one to six, the 208 centimetre forward was the most targeted Bulldog inside 50m – by a considerable margin – with 26.8 per cent of all entries aimed at him, ahead of Naughton at 17.1 per cent.

“Losing Darce up forward was a big one, just because he’s such a presence, and a lot of our entries go to him. So we were kind of learning how to play without him. We had to learn a few different things,”Sanders said.

Naughton sent shockwaves through the Bulldogs camp after his frightening fall against Sydney in late April. Fans had their hands to their head in shock as Naughton lay motionless on Marvel Stadium while medical staff carefully loaded him onto a stretcher.

“I think most of the boys were a bit rattled,” Sanders said. “You always think the worst. I remember being right there. I was like, “F---, you just hope he’s OK. It was pretty sickening.”

Remarkably, Naughton lined up the following week. It has not affected how he plays. He still throws himself into marking contests. Months down the track, he can see the funny side.

“I have watched it back, I’m still flat that they didn’t pay the mark on that one,” Naughton quipped.

There is no player arguably more important to the Bulldogs’ premiership hopes than Naughton, who is contracted until the end of 2032.

In Darcy’s absence, he has become the man in attack for the Dogs. Since round seven, Naughton is the target of 27.1 per cent of the Bulldogs’ entries inside 50m. Next are mature-age rookie Will Lewis (21.5 per cent) and youngster Jordan Croft (10.2 per cent).

Though Lewis’s return from injury takes some of the load off Naughton, the Dogs are hardly stacked with proven tall targets.

Their loss to North Melbourne four weeks ago prompted a rethink. The Dogs needed to be bold – or fold.

It has worked. Their scores in the past three weeks have been their highest across a three-game stretch since rounds one to three when Darcy and Naughton ruled the air. Small forwards Arty Jones, Cody Weightman and Rhylee West have hit form.

“I reckon the last three or four weeks we’ve been a bit more aggressive with our ball movement.,” Sanders said.

“We’ve realised we don’t have the kind of big fellas ... especially when it’s only Naughts up there. If Lobby [Rory Lobb] is playing ruck or back or whatever, we have to play different to what we would if we had Darce there or another key forward.

“Bevo and all the coaches are really giving us a licence; take the game on because that’s the way we’re going to win. It’s like very uplifting and empowering.

“We’ll make mistakes sometimes, but we need to take the game on ... to be damaging. After that North game, everyone kind of went a bit into their shells during the game.

“It wasn’t great at the time, it’s been a good blessing in disguise having that game. We actually needed to change, otherwise we might not have made [last week’s] wildcard [final], or if we did, we wouldn’t have been any kind of danger.”

This has been a year of living dangerously for the Dogs, who have won eight from eight in games decided by a single-digit margin.

The footy gods have played a part, Sanders conceded, as seen in Tim Membrey’s miss after the siren last week. But there is more to it than just luck. Every club has a save-the-game mode they train during the year – and the Dogs have done it better than anyone.

“It’s very psychological,” Sanders said. “Those close games, it’s almost like Collingwood a couple years ago when it felt like they couldn’t lose those close games. You just get confident. You’re like, ‘Oh boys, we’ve already done this’ because big games or close games at the end you can tighten up.

“But I feel like our boys are really relishing being in high-pressure environment.”

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