LUKE Beveridge couldn't have said it any better when he conceded the Western Bulldogs "lacked a little bit of polish" in the weekend's nail-biting loss to Sydney.
While the Bulldogs have improved their play considerably since thrashings from Greater Western Sydney and West Coast to start the season, the seven-point loss to the Swans and the round three win over Essendon were still littered with errant finishing in front of goal, a glaring deficiency that has plagued them for years.
Despite finishing 2016 as the premiers, the Dogs had the third-worst goal accuracy percentage of 47.6 – and it's become progressively worse since then.
An underwhelming flag defence saw it plummet even further, finishing last in goal accuracy in 2017 with a dismal 43.1 per cent strike rate.
As it stands this season, the wayward Dogs again sit bottom in that statistic, with only 37.6 per cent of their 109 shots hitting the mark, well below the League average of 48.7.
They're also 18th in 2018 when comes to nailing set shots, with 34 per cent of their attempts resulting in goals, but they rise to 13th (42 per cent) when having a ping in general play.
Young forwards Billy Gowers (30.8 per cent), Bailey Dale (40) Josh Dunkley (41.7) have been the worst offenders for Bulldogs with 10 or more shots at goal this season.
And injuries that have restricted sharpshooter Tory Dickson to just 11 games since the end of 2016 haven't helped.
The 30-year-old, who has kicked 151 goals in 90 games, has a career strike rate of 74.38, the second-best conversion percentage in AFL history for players with 50 or more shots on goal.
Tory Dickson (r) is an exception to the Bulldogs' inaccuracy rule. Picture: AFL Photos
While the Bulldogs have improved their ability to hit targets when delivering the ball inside 50 this year, Beveridge acknowledged after the loss to the Swans that the difference between winning and losing was the opposition taking their chances in front of the big sticks.
"We played a pretty good brand for most of the night, and we had our chances to make it a bit closer or come over the top, but we just lacked a little bit of polish in the end," Beveridge said post-match.
"The 'looks' were good enough, and we had some shots from the boundary we didn't convert, but Sydney had similar shots that they did convert, so if you compare the two, you've got some (class) finish from some quality players from Sydney.
"As much as we admire and have faith in our players, we're not to the level we should be in completing those set shots.
"It's still a work in progress."
Asked on Monday what the club was doing to rectify the ongoing problem, the premiership coach argued that goalkicking was "self-taught", but the skill also needed to be refined through "consistency and method".
"(Forwards coach) Ash Hansen is doing a tremendous job with our forwards," Beveridge told Channel Seven.
"Our connections are getting better, lots of marks inside 50, and think we had 60 inside 50s (against the Swans).
"We had a lot of 'looks' (at goal), but the when you think about the history of team, we haven't been great (at converting) for a few years – it's due to the personnel and players needing to improve, so we're working with them.
"We're sure it will come, so we're all working with the players."
