THE WESTERN Bulldogs have vowed to rally around midfielder Tom Liberatore after he suffered a serious knee injury in Sunday's disappointing 82-point loss to Greater Western Sydney.
Liberatore was carried from the field in the opening term after his right knee buckled while chasing a loose footy against the Giants.
Dogs coach Luke Beveridge confirmed the 25-year-old had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and would require a knee reconstruction.
It's a bitter blow for the Bulldogs premiership player, who missed the entire 2015 season with the same issue in his left knee.
Five talking points: GWS v Western Bulldogs
Beveridge said the loss of Liberatore, who is out of contract at the end of 2018, was the last thing his club needed, but they would stand by to help the premiership onballer through his upcoming rehabilitation.
"It's really unfortunate and disappointing. We were hoping for a bit of good luck with injury this year, but we haven't started off too well," he said.
"It's going to be a grind again, it's a tough time to recuperate from an ACL injury and Tom had a tough time of it last time, so we need to support him through it.
"One thing we'll always be is faithful and connected to our players on that (contract) front.
"We'll process that with Tom, but I think the last thing he's thinking about is his medium to long-term future."
WATCH: Libba goes down with knee
The Bulldogs gave up the first four goals of the game to GWS before they rallied to close the margin to four points early in the second term, but the home side piled on 13 goals to two either side of half-time to end the contest.
At times the intensity and effort of the Dogs was non-existent, the coach at a loss to explain the woeful showing.
"I don't publicly talk about effort, I mean it is a non-negotiable isn't it, so it's a real blight on everyone if I speak in derogatory terms around effort," Beveridge said.
"But I think you'd have to say (the effort) was uneven.
"We picked a 22 that we thought would have been very, very competitive, and as it turns out we weren't competitive enough.
"The fundamentals of the game, the in-close stuff and being able to get out and use your athleticism was on show from the orange brigade and we just couldn't match it.
"We expected to be better, but they were far superior."
WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference
The Bulldogs now must find a way to bounce back against West Coast at Etihad Stadium next week, but Beveridge remains confident they can.
"We're better than that, we believe we are, and you'd like to make a strong statement early in the year, and we didn't," he said.
"We'll pick ourselves up and ultimately it is one (game) out of 22, and we'll do our very best to find some momentum for Sunday's game against West Coast."
Recruit Hayden Crozier is unlikely to be fit to face the Eagles after the defender suffered a strained medial ligament in his right knee against the Giants.
