Barring a miraculous reversal of form and fortune, the Western Bulldogs will miss the finals this year. It will be just the ninth time in VFL/AFL history that a side has been absent at the pointy end of the season in consecutive years after making a premiership, and the first occurrence this century.

The theories for the rapid decline of the Dogs are many. Injuries, retirements and the stagnation or even regression of key players have all played a part, but the club has recently acknowledged that they had foreseen the possibility of a steep fall. There is a school of thought, too, that as a club that had for so long been among football's battler, the Dogs were less likely to handle success well.

The victorious Dogs in 2016. Credit:Joe Armao

As Dogs' great and long-time spiritual leader Bob Murphy said on SEN last weekend that, for some clubs, winning a premiership is like reaching the top of a mountain. According to Murphy, it was more akin to the moon landing for the men from Whitten Oval.

Whatever the reasons, change has certainly started to sweep through the Kennel. Premiership players Fletcher Roberts, Shane Biggs, Jordan Roughead and Josh Dunkley have all been out of favour at times this year, while Roughead, Tom Liberatore, Mitch Wallis – another who has been in and out of the side – and Luke Dahlhaus are all free agents. Youngsters such as Ed Richards, Billy Gowers, Aaron Naughton, Tim English and Patrick Lipinski have been blooded, and Luke Beveridge's side is routinely among the youngest in the AFL.