THE Western Bulldogs were the secondary beneficiary of Collingwood\u2019s come-from-behind win over Carlton in round twenty-three.<\/p>\n
Having earlier defeated Hawthorn to bring up the club\u2019s 12th win of 2022, Luke Beveridge\u2019s men faced a nervous wait to determine if they\u2019d play in September.<\/p>\n
Needing Carlton to lose, hopes would have been fading for the Bulldogs early in the fourth term with the Blues holding a four-goal lead.<\/p>\n
But a remarkable comeback sparked incredible scenes, and not just the MCG.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs players were in a hotel in Tasmania at the time, and the final siren at the \u2018G brought about plenty of celebrations from the men from Whitten Oval.<\/p>\n
Bulldogs\u2019 defender Taylor Duryea spoke about the tense scenes as the Dogs waited to learn their fate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey [nerves] were shocking,\u201d he said on SEN Breakfast<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d only been in that position as a helpless fan. [It was similar to] last year when we were needing Brisbane to lose or win by a small margin for us to get top four and they pipped us by 0.1 of a percent or something.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the same again yesterday, but fortunately on the right side of the result.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the Dogs\u2019 win came around quarter time of Carlton\/Collingwood, the scenes were somewhat subdued at full time in Launceston.<\/p>\n Duryea was also questioned on what Luke Beveridge had to say after the game.<\/p>\n \u201cOur first chat after the game, obviously we didn\u2019t know what the result was going to be between Collingwood and Carlton, so it was more [Beveridge saying], \u2018we\u2019ve done what we could\u2019,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a bit of a difficult season, obviously we\u2019d let ourselves down on some occasions with some poor performance.<\/p>\n \u201cBut realistically, while it\u2019s an anxious wait to get a result to go our way, we\u2019d rather be in this position than not.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fought out the last month of the year, and although scrappy, we got the wins we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dogs were seemingly out of finals contention just a month ago, but the Blues lost their last four games to open the door.<\/p>\n Beveridge\u2019s men also won four of their last six and Duryea believes his side can now \u201crelease the shackles\u201d in September.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all you need sometimes to kickstart something. He [Beveridge] has the absolute belief in us and we have it in ourselves, it\u2019s just been a bit of insistency at times,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cNow it\u2019s almost a clean slate, release the shackles a bit, win or go home mentality which we were familiar with last year and now we get to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bulldogs now play Fremantle in an Elimination Final on Saturday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n