Western Bulldogs: 2019 fixtures, preview, list changes, every player and odds

Mick Stirling

Western Bulldogs: 2019 fixtures, preview, list changes, every player and odds image

2018 was another year of disappointment for the Bulldogs as they struggled to find the form that took them to a premiership just two years earlier.

Luke Beveridge took comfort in the fact his side is one of the youngest in the competition, but it’s been hard to see where the spark is going to come from to get the Dogs back to the top.

Jack Macrae’s continued improvement was a positive and with Marcus Bontempelli and Lachie Hunter the list has got the core of a great midfield, but they need more help.

Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis have shown they can be elite yet neither seems to be in the right head space to get back to their best.

And then there’s the pillars at either end. The potential is there with Tom Boyd and Josh Schache capable of becoming a forward duo to fear, but without them firing it’s hard to see the Bulldogs being a premiership threat.

List changes

In

Taylor Duryea (Hawthorn), Sam Lloyd (Richmond), Bailey Smith (Sandringham Dragons), Rhylee West (Calder Cannons, pictured with father Scott), Laitham Vandermeer (Murray Bushrangers), Ben Cavarra (Williamstown), Will Hayes (Footscray VFL)

Rhylee West Scott West

Rookies

Lachie Young (Dandenong Stingrays), Jordon Sweet (North Adelaide)

Out

Jordan Roughead, Marcus Adams, Luke Dahlhaus, Tom Campbell, Kieran Collins, Mitch Honeychurch, Nathan Mullenger-McHugh, Clay Smith, Jack Redpath, Shane Biggs

Best Brownlow chances

Marcus Bontempelli $31, Jack Macrae $34, Lachie Hunter $101, Tom Liberatore $151

After top-10 finishes in 2016 and 2017 Bontempelli slid back a bit last season, but he’s never going to lose his eye-catching ability and, if the team around him can lift a bit more, the ‘Bont’ will be right in Brownlow contention.

Marcus Bontempelli

Macrae and Hunter are a little less noticeable, but that’s been changing. Macrae picked up 14 votes in 2018 despite missing three games and losing momentum in the middle of the season, while Hunter only needs a bit of media attention to lift his profile with the men in white (orange/green/pink…).

Players to watch

Josh Schache, Tom Boyd

The Bulldogs picked up Schache for a song when no other club was willing to take a chance on the former Lion. He didn’t set the world on fire in his first season at Whitten Oval, but he’s still only 21 years old and showed enough by the end of the season to suggest he could yet realise the potential that saw him taken with the second pick in the 2015 draft.

Boyd had another frustrating year ruined by injury, mental health issues and indifferent form. His 15 minutes of fame in the 2016 flag win seems to have him typecast as a ruckman, but the Dogs need a dominant presence down forward and if they can get his mind back in the game it needs to be in front of goal.

A last chance to watch?

Tom Liberatore, Dale Morris

A knee injury in round one ended Liberatore’s 2018 early and he spent the rest of the season in contract negotiations. The fact he was only re-signed at the last minute, and then just for a one-year extension, suggests he is still playing for his career. If ‘Libba’ can’t get back somewhere near his 2014 best-and-fairest form he will be on the trade table, and there’s no guarantee any other club will touch the mysteriously troubled midfielder.




It seems as though nothing can stop Dale Morris, but Father Time will have the last word and it’s extremely unlikely he’ll go past 2019. A broken back couldn’t stop him playing in the club’s historic flag win, but injuries have kept him to just 11 games in each of the past two seasons and, even if he can get the body through another campaign, the soon to be 36-year-old is almost certainly heading into his final year in red, white and blue.

Western Bulldogs’ 2019 list

No. Name Games Date of birth Weight, height Position
4 Bontempelli, Marcus  104  24 Nov 1995  193cm 93kg Midfield
17 Boyd, Tom 61  22 Aug 1995  200cm 103kg Ruck
  Cavarra, Ben 0      
12 Cordy, Zaine  48 27 Oct 1996  193cm 90kg Defender
9 Crozier, Hayden  86  24 Dec 1993  185cm 79kg Defender
31 Dale, Bailey  40  22 Jul 1996  183cm 82kg Midfield
35 Daniel, Caleb  74  7 Jul 1996  168cm 72kg  Midfield
29 Dickson, Tory  96  26 Sep 1987  184cm 85kg Forward
5 Dunkley, Josh  43  9 Jan 1997  190cm 88kg Forward
15 Duryea, Taylor  118  24 Apr 1991  179cm 80kg Defender
44 English, Timothy  10 Aug 1997  205cm 93kg Ruck
26 Gowers, Billy  20  10 Jun 1996  187cm 88kg Forward
30 Greene, Fergus  20 Dec 1997  187cm 75kg Forward
32 Hayes, Will    181cm 78kg Midfield
7 Hunter, Lachlan  105  13 Dec 1994  183cm 82kg Midfield
39 Johannisen, Jason  106  8 Nov 1992  180cm 82kg Defender
46 Jong, Lin  61  4 Jun 1993  188cm 87kg Midfield
21 Liberatore, Thomas  117  16 May 1992  183cm 83kg Midfield
27 Lipinski, Patrick  18  17 Jul 1998  187cm 84kg Forward
22 Lloyd, Sam  57  3 Mar 1990  180cm 83kg Forward
36 Lynch, Bradley  11 Jul 1997  187cm 79kg Defender
11 Macrae, Jackson  118  3 Aug 1994  191cm 85kg Midfield
16 McLean, Toby  60  31 Jan 1996  180cm 79kg Midfield
38 Morris, Dale  252  29 Dec 1982  190cm 91kg Defender
33 Naughton, Aaron  18  30 Nov 1999  195cm 89kg Defender
42 Picken, Liam  198  1 Aug 1986  184cm 81kg Forward
28 Porter, Callum  22 Feb 1999  182cm 76kg Midfield
20 Richards, Ed  21  3 Jul 1999  185cm 79kg Defender
18 Roberts, Fletcher  49  3 Jun 1993  196cm 92kg Defender
13 Schache, Josh  40  21 Aug 1997  199cm 94kg Forward
6 Smith, Bailey    185cm 83kg Midfield
37 Smith, Roarke  12  11 Sep 1996  181cm 81kg Defender
1 Suckling, Matthew  152  25 Jul 1988  187cm 85kg Defender
41 Sweet, Jordon (R) 0      
8 Trengove, Jackson  169  2 Nov 1990  197cm 97kg Forward
  Vandermeer, Laitham    180cm 77kg Midfield
3 Wallis, Mitchell  123  24 Oct 1992  186cm 85kg Midfield
19 Webb, Lukas  24  4 Mar 1996  187cm 84kg Midfield
14 West, Rhylee    181cm 82kg Midfield
34 Williams, Bailey  32  10 Oct 1997  187cm 85kg Defender
10 Wood, Easton  137  4 Sep 1989 187cm 86kg Defender
40 Young, Lachie (R) 0      
2 Young, Lewis  20 Dec 1998  197cm 96kg Defender


 

Western Bulldogs’ 2019 Fixture

Round Date Opponent Venue
1 Saturday 23 Mar 7:25pm  Sydney  Marvel Stadium
2 Sunday 31 Mar 3:20pm  Hawthorn MCG
3 Sunday 7 Apr 2:20pm  Gold Coast Marvel Stadium
4 Friday 12 Apr 7:50pm Collingwood MCG
5 Sunday 21 Apr 1:10pm Carlton Marvel Stadium
6 Saturday 27 Apr 6:10pm  Fremantle Optus Stadium
7 Saturday 4 May 7:25pm Richmond Marvel Stadium
8 Saturday 11 May 1:45pm  Brisbane  Mars Stadium
9 Saturday 18 May 4:35pm  Geelong GMHBA Stadium
10 Saturday 25 May 2:10pm  North Melbourne Marvel Stadium
11 Sunday 2 Jun 3:20pm  West Coast  Optus Stadium
12 BYE    
13 Saturday 15 Jun 7:25pm Carlton Marvel Stadium
14 Sunday 23 Jun 3:20pm Collingwood Marvel Stadium
15 Saturday 29 Jun 7:10pm  Port Adelaide  Adelaide Oval
16 Saturday 6 Jul 7:25pm Geelong Marvel Stadium
17 Sunday 14 Jul 3:20pm Melbourne Marvel Stadium
18 Sunday 21 Jul 4:40pm  St Kilda Marvel Stadium
19 Sunday 28 Jul 1:10pm Fremantle Marvel Stadium
20 Sunday 4 Aug 4:40pm Brisbane Gabba
21 Saturday 10 Aug 7:25pm Essendon Marvel Stadium
22 Sunday 18 Aug 3:20pm  GWS Giants  Showground Stadium
23 TBC Adelaide Mars Stadium

Games played on

Friday: 1
Saturday: 10
Sunday: 10

Teams played twice

Carlton, Fremantle, Collingwood, Brisbane, Geelong

2019 Preview and premiership odds

There’s a lot of question marks and not many answers hanging over the Bulldogs to the point where the bookies have them well down in premiership betting, starting as 13th ‘favourites’ at $34.

But the memories of September, 2016 are still around and, while only 14 of the flag-winning 22 are still on the list, there’s a well of untapped potential that has pundits and opponents wary.

Beveridge has the ability to get the best out of his players and, maybe after two years in the wilderness, motivation will be easier to find.

If Liberatore, Wallis, Schache and Boyd can step up to the plate this will suddenly become a very different team with multiple threats and youthful energy.

However, little has been added to a list that has fallen well short in recent campaigns, and maybe the heroics of 2016 will be remembered as a glorious but fleeting flash in the pan.

The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

Mick Stirling