THE WESTERN Bulldogs lost their fifth elimination final in the past decade because Hawthorn beat the Dogs at their own game – around the ball.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said after the first quarter, which saw his side carry a two-goal lead, "most things" went wrong.
BULLDOGS v HAWKS Full match coverage and stats
The Hawks had 101 more disposals at three-quarter time, and had doubled the Dogs' inside-50 count, before the extreme statistical lopsidedness steadied somewhat.
"We've been a pretty good contested side most of the year, at the coalface and at the stoppage and away, and the Hawks were just too good in that area tonight," Beveridge said.
"You ask yourself the question 'How much of it is Hawthorn and how much is it us', and I'd say probably a bit of both.
"Probably the main thing at half-time, the discussion point was around their intercept game and how many marks and the width we were giving them, their transition and movement up the ground. We had to make an adjustment ourselves, we had to take a number away from the stoppage.
"We didn't have any great influence through there, unfortunately. From the rucks through that brigade, it didn't happen for us. We just couldn't get any consistent territory.
"Our opportunities inside 50, which were few and far between, we couldn't keep it there with front-end stoppages and couldn't get any forward-half turnover. Everything that we'd been pretty good at, and you look at the KPIs throughout the year, we went away from it."
Skipper Marcus Bontempelli had a total of four disposals across the second and third terms, but Beveridge maintained there was no injury concern with the superstar.
"I don't think he did [spend any longer off the field]. To my mind, he might have got stuck on [the bench] a minute or two longer, but he was okay. He tried to lift us in the last quarter, he kicked a goal, he tried to kick a second," Beveridge said.
"That was the message at three-quarter time. After all our hard work, we have to make a fist of this. We started the last quarter like we could, then we just squandered a couple of forward forays where we possibly could have put a bit of pressure on and belief that we could have come was still there. But in the end, there was a significant gap on the scoreboard, and they earned it."
With a host of young, tall talent, and an engine room entering the twilight portions of their careers (Bontempelli is 28 years old, Adam Treloar 31, Tom Liberatore 32), Beveridge has midfielders at the top of his off-season wish list.
"As far as who's talented and who's got a healthy list – we'll continue to work on it. As I've said in the past, we need to shuffle a few around," Beveridge said.
"We'll need to create some more depth through our utilities and our midfield ranks, because of the key position players and rucks that have come into our group over the last four years.
"We think Ryley Sanders is going to be a really good player for us in the future, so there's some real promise, but no one came here tonight thinking we'd be strong-armed in the game, and I think in the end, Hawthorn strong-armed us."
