WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has accused the majority of his players of complacency in the final three quarters against Collingwood, saying the club had some soul-searching to do in the wake of a "disappointing and deflating" loss.
The Bulldogs led by 26 points early in the second quarter after piling on five goals to the Magpies' one in an impressive first term, but their night went downhill from there.
PIES FLY HOME Full match coverage and stats
After leading by 18 points at half-time, the Bulldogs managed just four behinds for the rest of the game, while Collingwood added eight more goals to romp to a 35-point win.
Beveridge told reporters after the game it was as if "two completely different sides" had taken the field after quarter-time.
PIES ARE BACK IN TOWN Five talking points
"They lifted their intensity and that challenged us on a number of fronts and we came up well short. Put that down to Collingwood's ferocity around the ball (and) our lack of scope to maintain it in our front half – the ball came out of our forward half way too easily," Beveridge said.
"It felt like for most of the game our backend held it together pretty well but backmen can't defend those open plays.
"So the 12 through the middle of the ground and forward of the ball just became complacent and as much as that's disappointing and deflating at least we know what it is and we can fix it.
"We know we can't do that and play to a level that we know we can. Credit to Collingwood and we've got some soul-searching to do pretty quickly."
WATCH Luke Beveridge's full media conference
Asked whether his players' complacency related to their mindset or work-rate, Beveridge said it was both.
"We just didn't have any consistency forward of centre and through the arcs," Beveridge said.
"(Collingwood's) divisions in those areas got well on top. We made some adjustments late when they got a goal or two up but it was to no avail, it didn't arrest the slide."
Defender Zaine Cordy was ruled out of Friday night's game at half-time with delayed concussion, having made a good start to the match by keeping in-form Pies forward Jordan De Goey goalless.
"I couldn't tell you when the incident happened, but it came to my attention during the second quarter," Beveridge said.
"So we had to keep him off and it was confirmed at half-time that he wasn't able to take the field again."
In better news for the Bulldogs, Jason Johannisen was not injured in an incident late in the game that saw Collingwood forward Mason Cox reported for rough conduct.
Johannisen had his head down over the ball when Cox bumped him, collecting him high with his hip.
The Bulldogs speedster bounced straight up and completed the game, with Beveridge confirming post-match that he had suffered no ill-effects after the clash.
