Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Luke Beveridge wants the Western Bulldogs to “batten down the hatches” and pay no attention to the noise surrounding Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks.
After a thrilling wildcard win over Collingwood last Friday night, the Bulldogs prepare for an elimination final at the Adelaide Oval against the Crows.
The match comes during a rocky week for Adelaide, with speculation mounting over Nicks’ future should their season end on Saturday night.
Reports this week have suggested Nicks will be sacked if the Crows lose to the Bulldogs, despite Adelaide boasting the second-best home-and-away record over the past two seasons.
Minor premiers last year, the Crows limply bowed out of the finals in straight sets after failing to win one quarter in their two matches at home.
“We’ve all been through it, but it’s probably no use me providing too many words on it,” Beveridge said of the speculation around Nicks’ coaching tenure.
“We’ve just got to batten down the hatches and really internalise on what we need to do to beat the Crows and just stay out of all of that.
“It’s a little bit disconcerting for the senior coach.”
The Bulldogs registered thrilling wins over the Crows and Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval this year, but did go down comfortably in Gather Round to Hawthorn when they had a severely depleted team.
Adelaide won the return bout at Marvel Stadium, Crows captain Jordan Dawson producing one of the best individual quarters of the season to set up the 57-point win in round 14.
Veteran midfielder Tom Liberatore has been ruled out of a return this week as he recovers from a knee injury.
But the premiership hero could be in contention if the Bulldogs win through to the semi-finals.
Beveridge is happy with the Bulldogs’ preparation, after a gruelling run of three games in 12 days.
“We go into this week with an eight-day turnaround, which is nice just to freshen up a little bit,” he said.
“You’re forced to have your main session two days out from the game when you’ve got a six-dayer.
“But this week we’ve been able to choose … so I think we’ll run out there reasonably fresh and we can only benefit from the experience.”
