- RODNEY Eade says his team can quickly snap its worrying form slump, but conceded Jason Akermanis had been half a game from the VFL.
A host of players are out of form. None more so than Akermanis, who had three possessions to halftime before being moved into defence on Roos star Brent Harvey.
He responded with some strong defensive efforts against the in-form rover.
It was a performance Eade said had probably saved his spot in the side.
"I would think he has probably saved his bacon in the second half," Eade said.
"He wasn't giving us anything. He was struggling, and he has struggled for a while.
"Harvey had 17 (possessions) to halftime with two blokes rotating on him, so you put a bloke who is not getting the ball on a player who is and it worked out pretty well.
"I thought he played pretty well in the second half.
"If he had continued on with what happened in the first half, he may have been in the frame, with a few other players. He might have been considered."
Akermanis's first half led to a brutal appraisal at the long break from former teammate Luke Darcy on SEN.
"He needs a spell," Darcy said.
"He needs to go back and show his teammates because you can't carry someone whose body language is the way it is today.
"His second efforts are non-existent. When you turn up and show you don't want to be out there, you have a spell."
But Akermanis improved and so did the Dogs, a sign according to Eade that the form slump is not terminal.
He said his side has played enough strong football in the past month to show its problem is consistency, not pure form.
"I haven't got deep-seated concerns. Every week, even the ones we lost, we have played some good football," Eade said.
"So there is form there. It's not like no one is playing well.
"It's just we need a consistent effort for four quarters.
"We are a workmanlike side. We need to have our pressure up, we need to work hard. If we don't we are not going to win."
The Bulldogs are locked into a qualifying final against Hawthorn and have little to play for until then, something the coach says may have taken the edge off their intensity.
"We spoke about that during the week," Eade said.
"We have got a team playing for their life and you would like to think that wouldn't be the case, that we would have enough character for that, but it didn't look like that.
"We can all be amateur psychologists. But let's put it on the table.
"We are not a good enough side unless we have got everyone working hard. If we don't get that we are going to lose games."
Ben Hudson was a late withdrawal with back spasms, but Eade said he would return against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Shaun Higgins will play for Williamstown when he returns from ankle problems, and should be joined by champion midfielder Scott West.
But with tall defenders dropping like flies, Eade said the Bulldogs were vulnerable down back and had few options to turn to.
The Roos won the inside-50s 52-50 and scored from 31 of those entries.
"That's a huge percentage once you go inside your forward 50," Eade said.
"It's not the only area, but it's one we need to look at. We haven't got the personnel there at the moment. We have got a couple of players out and it leaves us vulnerable."
Anyone catch this story?
Comparing the last 5 weeks to the first 14, he is down approx 70-80%. It is staggering.
