A "revolving door" within the Western Bulldogs' key position stocks is a positive problem for the club, says senior coach Luke Beveridge, who will again be weighing up potential changes to his rearguard this week.
The Dogs tinkered with their backline across the off-season in welcoming the return of Liam Jones and selecting Western Australian Jedd Busslinger with their first-round pick at the draft, while spearhead Josh Bruce made the move to defence after a difficult 2022 campaign.
Beveridge was left searching for answers to lock in his ideal starting backline, with veteran Alex Keath having been dropped late into last season as Ryan Gardner and Tim O'Brien also looked to prove their worth.
The club's tall defensive options were seen as a concern leading into Round 1 this year, only for Jones to show he hasn't missed a beat after a year away from top flight football, now ranking as one of the competition's best one-on-one stoppers.
The second-time Bulldog has featured in all nine games so far this season, however his supporting cast hasn't been able to consistently remain on the park. Keath has held his spot for eight matches, while Bruce, Gardner and O'Brien have each battled respective injury concerns over the opening two months of the season.
Bruce showed promise and poise as a defender before succumbing to a rib injury in his side's Gather Round loss to Port Adelaide, while Gardner and O'Brien have combined for five games each.
The former worked well alongside Jones to help negate Carlton's towering forward third, helping turn the tide from Beveridge's defensive woes of 2022.
O'Brien was among Footscray's best performers in Sunday's VFL loss to Werribee alongside Busslinger, with the Dogs' key defensive stocks now an area of strength for the Whitten Oval club.
Beveridge expressed his delight in the shift his tall defensive timber has undergone over the past 12 months, knowing it's a fortune not all clubs possess.
"We have got some depth through there now. It's been important for us," the premiership coach said.
"It's been a little bit of a revolving door when you consider Josh and Tim O'Brien coming in and playing well (then) going out. (O'Brien) did play really well against Werribee on Sunday, so he's thrown his name up to come back in.ย Obviously Alex and Liam have been constants down there.
"It has been important when you consider some teams haven't had that scope to replace key defenders at different times.
"Sydney is probably the main one when you consider losing the McCartin brothers and Dane Rampe, who are so critical to them. It's difficult to replace them when you haven't got the players on your list to do that.
"It's been a good problem-solving situation for us."
Bruce is unlikely to make his return for Saturday's trip to Ballarat, where the Dogs will host Adelaide a year on from the Crows' thrilling one-point win at Mars Stadium.
Beveridge confirmed the former Saint and Giant will be touch-and-go for minutes this weekend, while midfielder Adam Treloar remains at least two weeks away as he recovers from a hamstring strain.
"We'll wait and see. He'll train today," Beveridge said of Bruce's selection chances when speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
"He was going well enough and starting to settle in our backline when we lost him in the Port Adelaide game, which is a shame.
"Whether he plays this week... most likely not. We'll cover that after training."
The Bulldogs will be eyeing their fifth successive win on Saturday and could climb as high as third on the ladder should results elsewhere go their way.
The Round 10 clash between the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide will commence at 2:10pm (AEST).
