THE WESTERN Bulldogs entered the 2011 season expecting to be serious premiership contenders. With three narrow preliminary final losses and a core group of players in the prime of their careers, it was easy to mount a case for seeing the Dogs compete in their first Grand Final since 1961.

Now, with only three wins from eight games and on the back of the club’s fourth-worst loss ever - to West Coast by 123 points - the Grand Final dream appears, at best, a very distant hope.

What went wrong for the Dogs in such a short space of time?

Brian Lake’s demise from dual All Australian full-back to struggling VFL player hasn’t helped their cause. Lake is the most important player in their structure; he can shut down the opposition’s best forward and set up attacks in the same way that Matthew Scarlett does for Geelong.

It has been a real battle for him to recover from three post-season operations as well as the public airing of his fallout with former teammate and best friend Nathan Eagleton.

If Lake is the most important player in their structure, then Adam Cooney is their best player. Cooney has been bravely pushing on with a knee injury that prevents him from training at all during the week. As a result, his output this year has been a shadow of previous years and, finally succumbing to the pain, he missed last week’s game and most likely won't play against Hawthorn.

The Bulldogs’ wish for a power forward was rewarded last year with an incredible 80-goal, All Australian year from Barry Hall. Ankle surgery has kept him out of the past three senior games and, at 34 years of age, it will be tough for him to replicate his outstanding contribution.

Within the playing group, Shaun Higgins has long been considered a future captain and star of the competition. Ill health and injury appear to have destroyed his confidence to the point where it’s hard to see him making a meaningful contribution this year.

Not a lot was made of Jarrod Harbrow’s departure to the Gold Coast; in reality, he played a massively important role for the Bulldogs. His speed and creativity across half-back suited Rodney Eade’s game plan perfectly.

It was a style of play based on speed, change of direction and quick ball movement. The Bulldogs regularly got their hands to the ball first through the hardness of Boyd, Cross, Ward and Giansiracusa, which, combined with the pace of Cooney, Griffen, Murphy and Harbrow, gave their forwards enough one-on-one chances to kick big scores.

This brand of football has completely deserted them this year.

The next three weeks are make-or-break for Rodney Eade and the Bulldogs.

They have tough games against Hawthorn, Geelong at Skilled Stadium and St Kilda. Lose all three games and the pressure will be on for coach and club to part ways.

In my experience, Rocket in this situation is at his combative best. This week he wound the clock back with an old-fashioned 6 am beach session and reminded the players to bring their mouth guards with them to the track.

It was only two weeks ago that he manufactured six goals out of Lindsay Gilbee by starting him at full forward for the first time in his career. I’m expecting Rocket to have used every possible weapon in his arsenal by the time the Bulldogs run out on Sunday against Hawthorn.

It is a proud group of players who will be humiliated and embarrassed by the 123-point loss last week. When your form and confidence desert you, often the best option is to go back to basics.

You don’t need good touch to tackle hard, get in the face of the opposition and compete as though your life depended on it. The eyes of the football world will be firmly fixed on the Western Bulldogs this week.

Rodney Eade will be tempted to make massive changes to his side; personally, I’d like to see him play the same 22 who capitulated to West Coast last week.

He might take inspiration from Erik Spoelstra, the coach of the Miami Heat, who refused to make any changes to his side who lost Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference finals series to the Chicago Bulls, then went on to win the next three games with the same roster.

As Spoelstra said: "It won’t come down to personnel. It’ll come down to personality."

The views in this article are that of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs