WHEN the rain started to fall on Friday night, the Western Bulldogs' chances of upsetting the Crows evaporated faster than the precipitation at Adelaide Oval.

They managed just two goals for the contest with a painful 50-minute wait between Lukas Webb's major from a free kick in the second quarter and Matt Suckling's rushed snap shot midway through the fourth term.

The Dogs have a free-flowing game tailor-made for playing under the roof at Etihad Stadium and coach Luke Beveridge conceded the team's lack of wet-weather experience played a part.

CROWS IN A SLOG Full match coverage and stats



"It's a different game. I mean we've played outside in other games but the players don't get to play in heavier conditions that often," he said.

"In a tight contest where there's no room to move … they definitely got us on a power and one-on-one perspective.

"When you practice and focus on ball movement, how you create your scoring opportunities and how defend off the back of them, and you plan on that for most weeks … then you just can't do it tonight."



SLIDE RULE QUESTIONED Five talking points

Beveridge also paid credit to the Crows, saying the performance highlighted a gap between his side and one of the League's best this season.

"When it went into our forward line the Crows' defence just looked a bit too strong and they won the one-on-ones and stifled our opportunities probably too easily," he said.

"We knew that we'd missed out on some chances and whether or not we were going to be able to reproduce them in the second half was the question mark and we didn't produce enough."

Despite the meagre score – their lowest since round 16, 1996 – there's no panic stations yet.

The Bulldogs led the inside 50 count by 11 at half-time and were only beaten by three entries at the game's end.

And after scoring 16 goals against the Lions last week there won't be a dramatic overhaul of the side's forward line.

"We're down the ladder but we're fourth or fifth for the amount of inside 50s that we generate," Beveridge said.

"So, we feel like if we keep persisting maybe the wheel will turn a little bit."



WATCH Luke Beveridge's full press conference

Meanwhile, a bum tap in footy is an acceptable practice between players but not when it comes from a spectator.

Easton Wood appeared shocked by the contact, but Beveridge hadn't seen the incident.

"The crowd were pretty well behaved, they didn't have much to complain about," he said.