"A BIT of a head scratcher" is how Luke Beveridge described the Bulldogs' dismal showing against Collingwood on Friday night, but said the players needed to "wear it" after they allowed Brodie Grundy to walk all over them.
Grundy completely dominated youngster Tim English and also the Dogs' midfield, with Beveridge admitting his players struggled to read where the best-on-ground ruckman was going to hit the ball.
He said it would be a "cop out" to blame the challenging COVID-19 circumstances on the 52-point loss, and that the Dogs simply didn't handle the ball or the slippery conditions caused by a pre-game shower as well as the slick Pies did.
"We just got beaten out of the centre, our backs were under immediate pressure straight away and then what a tragic night to play in a Western Bulldogs jersey if you're a forward," Beveridge said.
"It was just a real nightmare.
"The boys who played in there against Grundy, not just Tim, they just need to wear it.
"He's a big powerful man and he's become an extremely good player but we should be better than we were tonight."
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The Dogs were so far off the Pies' pace they had registered just two inside 50s by the middle of the second quarter as they fell 48 points behind.
Beveridge said the game wasn't a true reflection of their ability.
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"They're hurting, they're pretty disappointed and gutted," he said.
"You're only as good as your last game and our last two have been pretty ordinary.
"We understand the challenge and we've got to meet it, it's up to us.
"That's the way you never want to start a season for yourselves and your supporters and to come out and be obliterated, it's a really disappointed night.
"It's not alarming because I think we're still more than capable, a lot more capable than we were tonight."
Meanwhile, Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said the performance was the Pies' "most dominant" against a Bulldogs team from the last four years.
He also said the shortened 16-minute plus time on quarters "suited" his contested-loving team.
"We love it, we love the way the game's been set up and we love getting a result like that," Buckley said.
"I think fundamentally when we get back down to it, the parameters of the contest are set and they're the same for both combatants and then you've got to find the opportunity in those parameters.
"The game looks like it's more focused on stoppage in that initial phase out of the contest and we think that suits us.
"We're only one game in so we'll see how we go."
Meanwhile, Beveridge said the Bulldogs were attempting to gain permission from the AFL for their second-tier players who would usually be gaining minutes in the VFL to face off against Carlton next Friday in a potential 14 versus 14 scratch match.
