The 2025 season for the Western Bulldogs was ultimately a disappointing one, missing out on the Finals Series despite achieving a ridiculous percentage of 137% - the highest percentage for a team not playing Finals in the AFL era.
The club showed resilience in the early stages of the season, fighting to a respectable 2-3 record without superstar Marcus Bontempelli before seeing Aaron Naughton break out for a career-high 60-goal season while spearhead Sam Darcy battled a handful of injury concerns throughout the year.
The Bulldogs midfield group is stacked with elite talent, leading the competition in clearances this season and scores originating from centre bounces. The club has also continued to unveil their plethora of 200cm-plus forward talents, with Jordan Croft being the latest to debut, highlighting how their forward 50 combinations could be total mismatches for some opposition, especially once crumbing threats like Cody Weightman are fit to return.
However, there is one element of their game that let them down significantly in 2025 and, if nothing changes for 2026, it will likely let them down again.
It is, of course, their defensive profile.
In each of the last 20 seasons, the eventual AFL premiers have ranked inside the top six for points allowed. The Bulldogs were not far off this requirement in 2025, finishing eighth in points allowed, and had they conceded three fewer goals across the entire the season, they would have found themselves inside the top six.
However, the underlying statistics highlight that the Bulldogs are actually quite far off from becoming a reliable defensive team, with the concerns being exposed massively in their brutal loss at the hands of Fremantle at Marvel Stadium last week.
So, what specifically went wrong for the Bulldogs defensively in 2025, and how do they retool for a better 2026 campaign?
Firstly, it's important to note that in terms of generating attack from defence, the Bulldogs were one of the better sides in the AFL this season - this is not their issue. With Bailey Dale's lethal kick from half-back, paired with the pace of Ed Richards, the Bulldogs ranked second for scoring chains originating from their defensive 50 and were around league-average for rebound 50 rate, though admittedly were behind every other top eight side in the metric.
Instead, it's clear the area the Dogs desperately need upgrades in is their key defender stocks, as they were regularly outclassed by key forwards in 2025.
The Bulldogs ranked 17th this season in defensive one-on-one contests lost, losing 32.8% of their 10.5 1v1's per game. They also ranked 17th in spoils and conceded 11.6 marks inside 50 per game. The only team inside the top eight to concede more marks inside 50 is Brisbane, who's defensive profile has struggled to be fully healthy throughout this season.
There were two Bulldogs key defenders to play at least 20 games this season; Rory Lobb and James O'Donnell. Among the 19 other AFL-listed key defenders to play at least 20 games this season, the pair rank 16th and 17th in defensive one-on-one loss percentage and ninth and 13th for intercept marks.
Over the course of the 2025 season, there were 11 occasions where the Bulldogs conceded at least four scoring shots to the opposition key forward who was the direct matchup of either Lobb or O'Donnell. North Melbourne's Nick Larkey kicked 5.1 in both Round 1 and Round 17, and Geelong's Jeremy Cameron and Shannon Neale combined for 11 goals in Round 11 against the Dogs, for example.
It all came to a head against Fremantle in Round 24, where a second-quarter onslaught saw the Dogs' defence get torched for 44 points, largely coming from the work rate of key forwards Jye Amiss and Josh Treacy, who both would finish the match with three goals each.
That 32-minute patch effectively ended the Bulldogs' season and truly highlighted their defensive woes. For a team in the prime of a premiership window, based on talent they have in other areas of the ground, it's clear that defensive pairing at full-back won't cut it moving forward - at least not as the primary responsibilities for some of the league's most dominant goal-kickers.
So, how do the Bulldogs resolve this blatant weakness?
The club must target defensive upgrades in the upcoming trade period. Bringing in a versatile key defender like Jack Silvagni, who has reportedly met with the club as he weighs up his next career move, would cover the need for defensive stability while fitting the timeline of the team.
Brandon Starcevich is another defensively oriented option, with his strength in one-on-one contests illuminating how he could complement the offensive-minded small defenders Beveridge likes to play.
Rory Lobb will turn 33 years old next season, so the Bulldogs can't remain stagnant when making upgrades. The pressure for the club to make the most of their current playing list has been well-documented and it will surely intensify next season if the team struggles to find itself contending for a top four spot yet again.
If there's any silver linings, it's that the equation appears fairly simple for the Dogs, based on the way they've lost games this season and what recent AFL history suggests.
Defence wins premierships and in 2025, the Bulldogs weren't good enough in that department, so that must be their focus entering 2026.
