THE LURE of finishing on top of the ladder, earning a double chance and winning a first ever minor premiership for the Western Bulldogs is not playing on the mind of veteran coach Luke Beveridge.
The Bulldogs inched closer to cementing top spot when they cruised past Adelaide by 49 points at Mars Stadium on Saturday afternoon and now remain in the box seat to finish the year with the club's first minor premiership.
The ladder leaders face Essendon, Hawthorn and Port Adelaide in the final three weeks of the season and Beveridge knows anything can happen during the run home.
"We are just keeping our head in the game and I don't really want to talk about that (minor premiership) because if I do, I will be quoted," Beveridge said.
"There are three games left and it is still really tight there.
"If we can keep fronting up with the same motivation, the same willingness to contribute and inspire each other then we will be OK and whatever happens from there will take care of itself."
BULLDOGS v CROWS Full match coverage and stats
The Bulldogs got an even contribution from their talented bevy of stars against the Crows, although inspirational skipper Marcus Bontempelli was well down on his usual output to finish with a season-low 15 disposals.
Talented tall Josh Schache once again impressed in his new role down back and Beveridge admits he has not been surprised by the transformation the 23-year-old has made over the past fortnight.
Schache was thrust into a key defensive post against Melbourne last week when regular full-back Alex Keath hurt his hamstring and the former No.2 draft pick performed just as well in a similar role against the Crows.
Given the big job on veteran forward Taylor Walker, Schache helped himself to eight marks and five intercepts and kept the Crows dangerman to just five disposals in an entertaining one-on-one battle.
"He (Schache) has probably learnt a lot from the key defenders that he has played on at our club and the way we want them to position themselves and work together and make it difficult for him at times," Beveridge said.
"He has also learnt a lot from key defenders at other clubs with some of their techniques and he was strong and an important part of our backend today.
"When you consider we haven't got Gardy (Ryan Gardner) and Keathy (Keath) - who were our two starting key defenders at the start of the year - for him to hold that end up has been really important for us over the last two weeks."
While disappointed with the result, Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks was happy with the way his young team battled the game out against one of the premiership favourites.
"I was really pleased with the way we fought it out in the second half," Nicks said.
"We didn't give up, we kept battling and we are going to learn a lot from today's game."
Nicks singled out Elliott Himmelberg for his efforts up forward, as the 23-year-old booted two goals and pulled down four contested marks in what was just his sixth match of the season.
The Adelaide coach said he will continue to provide more opportunities to the likes of Himmelberg and No.2 draft pick Riley Thilthorpe as he attempts to find the right mix in his forward half.
"It (the forward line) is a battle of youth and experience," Nicks noted.
"Tex (Walker) is coming off a substantial knock and is taking some time to get into the swing of things, but we are starting to shape that forward line."
