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AAP
AAP
Sport
Shayne Hope

Beveridge seeks cure for Dogs' AFL yips

Marcus Bontempelli leads the dispirited Bulldogs off at the MCG after their defeat by Richmond. (AAP)

Luke Beveridge can't see any magic fix to the Western Bulldogs' goal-kicking woes as they search for ways to reboot their AFL finals push.

The Bulldogs slumped to a 1-3 record with Saturday night's 38-point defeat to Richmond at the MCG, where they kicked 7.19 (61) to 15.9 (99).

The wildly inaccurate display came after the Dogs kicked 2.7 in the final quarter of a close loss to Carlton in round two and escaped with a win over Sydney despite posting 9.17 under the Marvel Stadium roof.

"It probably snowballed out of control tonight so it's not going to get any better if I get the whip out and come down hard on them for skill errors," Bulldogs coach Beveridge said.

"They're not trying to make them. They're disappointed themselves that they're not executing to the level that they would like.

"I just have to support them and encourage them and say that it will come, and we've got to keep training with good standards to improve.

"It's probably as extreme as it's been in our time together over the last couple of weeks."

Beveridge said the Bulldogs will keep working on their goal-kicking and providing feedback to each other as they seek to make the most of their forward entries.

The 2016 premiership coach will call the AFL about infringements on the mark that cost Bailey Williams and Aaron Naughton 50-metre penalties within minutes of each other during the second quarter.

Both led directly to Richmond goals and helped swing momentum in the match.

The Bulldogs often choose not to man the mark, instead dropping a few metres back, but will seek clarification on the tactic.

"Clearly the first one isn't there because you're given two or three seconds, they've told us, to stand and Bailey Williams didn't get that," Beveridge said.

"He was choosing not to man the mark, so that one's not there, but the other one was blatantly there.

"It was an interesting period of the game because they obviously really hurt.

"We'll talk to the AFL during the week and we'll have an amicable conversation about the adjudication and what they think about the first one."

The Bulldogs are desperately in need of a win when they take on North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in round five.

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