Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge would have been shell shocked after his sides Grand Final loss.
The Bulldogs lead by 19-points in the 3rd quarter and seemed to be all over the Demons. However, Melbourne flicked a switch off the back of some Christian Petracca brilliance and the Bulldogs were left in their dust and ultimately fell 80-points short of the premiers.
Beveridge said post-game that the Demons were too strong and that he felt the game had slipped out of the Bulldogs grip before they could do anything about it.
“You‘ve got to give Melbourne credit,” Beveridge said.
“To think we were 19 points up during that third quarter and for the scoreline to end up as it was - it was a considerable show of power and strength out of the middle.
“We couldn’t stem the tide, we couldn’t get a clearance and get it into our half.
“It happened so quickly, and in the blink of an eye, the game is almost gone, so all we can do is credit them.”
The 2016 premiership coach paid tribute to the club and the players who had sacrificed so much over the entire finals series.
The Bulldogs have travelled ferociously over the past five weeks with Beveridge saying he wasn't sure if it had a detrimental impact on the Dogs in the Grand final.
“Has our journey been too taxing, has it taken it out of us? I’m not too sure,” he said.
“There’s no doubt it’s been arduous, we’ve had some challenges, but I couldn’t be more grateful for what our players have been able to do to get us to this stage.
“As good as Melbourne were, it would’ve been nice, if you’re going to go down, to go down in a bit of a tighter tussle.”
