IF YOU didn't get the memo, then here it is again. Read it closely so that there is no confusion and is fully understood.
The 2016 premiership Western Bulldogs are dead and buried.
There is no other conclusion to be drawn when you follow up a season-opening 82-point loss to Greater Western Sydney with a 51-point loss to West Coast, this time at Etihad Stadium.
The 2016 premiers would not have served up the slop they did in the first half against the Eagles, which saw them trail by seven goals at half-time and be jeered off the ground by some of their disbelieving supporters.
The Dogs have played just 24 games since hoisting up the premiership cup at the MCG but as coach Luke Beveridge observed on Sunday evening, "It seems like a lifetime ago.
"You can’t really establish yourself as a unified team until you start winning together, doing all the things that are going to get you to the line."
The Dogs only took 11 players from their 2016 premiership team into the Eagles game. Some have departed, others have retired, injuries have bitten and preparations for this season have been disrupted. The Dogs have also injected some youth because as Beveridge explained, they’re ready to play.
So, consider this to be a team in development, but there was no getting away from how poor the Bulldogs were in the first half, when the heat was on and the game was up for grabs. Beveridge labeled them as "inexcusable" and it was hard to argue.
There was an alarming lack of intensity in the first half, a raft of skill errors and no clear organisation. The Eagles are a middling side, but for stages there, they were made to look every bit as accomplished as Mick Malthouse’s outfits of the early 1990s.
"They got us around the contest and we gave them too many blatant opportunities with our skill (errors). We were outplayed by a better side," Beveridge said.
Getting back the then and now, Beveridge said he wasn't giving up hope after just two games. The review of this game will make for grisly viewing, but as he said, "That doesn't mean we absolve ourselves of what we want to do this year.
"It’s two rounds in and we’ll go into this week’s game against Essendon believing we’ll win. It’s a long year, but it’s only round two."
WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference
But there will need to be significant improvement.
"The energy wasn't consistent enough. You can’t question that the boys aren’t trying but unfortunately there’s a discrepancy between what we're doing and what other teams are doing," Beveridge said.
Beveridge is facing the biggest challenge of his coaching career. He has been such an outstanding coach, going back to his days in the Victorian amateur competition, and Dogs supporters should take some comfort in his comments on Sunday evening. He was calm and measured, not bereft of answers and avowedly determined to remain positive.
It would seem that skill levels might be the first order of business. "It’s nothing to do with the time of year. Our players just need to be better at nailing their targets, in the back half or the front half. It’s too hard to contain the ball when teams can run and hit targets on the turnover.
"I’ve been saying that for a long time and I think I’m a broken record."
The Dogs should get Mitch Wallis, Tory Dickson and one of Fletcher Roberts or Lewis Young back for the Essendon game. And from the coach they can expect quiet resolve to get the team winning again.
"I’ve got to keep some perspective. We want the best every week, we consider what it might look like in the lead-up and when it doesn't happen we all get a bit frustrated, but ultimately, I’m supportive of the players to be the best players they can," he said.
"We’ll keep pushing the envelope on the things we know will hold us in good stead and ultimately we believe we’ll come up to speed.
"I just can’t tell you when that will be."
