Luke Dahlhaus was once a cult figure at the Western Bulldogs. I remember being there for his debut. It was round 12 of the 2011 season, as the Western Bulldogs played St. Kilda on a Friday night. Dahlhaus, who sported dreadlocks and had a babyface was the Bulldogs' substitute for this game.
After half-time, the Dogs unleashed the young man from Leopold and although recorded just nine disposals in the second-half, showed plenty of signs that he had got a future at AFL level. The Bulldogs lost the match that night, but were treated to a glimpse of the future in Dahlhaus. He showed pace, determination and was a tough player for someone his size.
Fast forward from his first game to now. After 154 games and one drought-breaking premiership, he's heading out the door and poised to join Geelong for 2019. It is sad to see someone of Dahlhaus' ilk leave, but this is going to be a decision that will benefit the Doggies, perhaps as much as it will benefit Geelong in the long run.
It's going to benefit Geelong because they limped to eighth place this year, only to be comprehensively beaten by Melbourne in the Elimination Final. Their so-called 'Holy Trinity' that is Selwood, Ablett and Dangerfield failed and failed miserably. Ablett's body is just one serious injury away from retirement, and Selwood and Dangerfield underperformed throughout the year.
Mitch Duncan is a terrific – yet underrated midfielder, but the Cats need more assistance. Tim Kelly has had a fantastic first year in the AFL, but could be back home in Western Australia by next year at the earliest. So they need more midfield depth. Dahlhaus – who is an unrestricted free agent this year – would be a good midfield option and the most pleasing thing about this for Geelong fans is that he can walk over to Kardinia Park, and the Dogs can't do a thing about it.
Whether or not he can recapture form from a couple of years ago remains to be seen. In 2015, Luke Dahlhaus was one of five Bulldogs named in the All-Australian squad of 40 after a year, which can probably be best described as a 'break-out' campaign. After initially starting as a forward pocket who at times can play in the middle, Dahlhaus played most of the 2015 season as a midfielder and averaged 25.6 disposals, 5.2 tackles, 3.7 clearances and 3.7 inside 50s per game, he also showed worth up forward, kicking 17.10 for the year.
After the premiership year in 2016, Dahlhaus' form regressed over the next 24 months. Whilst he played every game in 2017, and averaged 25 disposals, four tackles and three clearances per game, he wasn't influencing games as much as he used to. In 2018, he took another couple of steps back and in summary, struggled to find the footy.
This year he averaged 21.4 disposals per game, which is the lowest average since 2014, when he was slowly starting to make a name for himself in the middle. There were seven of his 17 games this season in which he recorded less than 20 disposals. Either he is simply out of touch, or is hunger for the footy had waned significantly and I'm not going to hesitate in suggesting that it's possible that it is the latter of the two.
Former Bulldogs' captain Robert Murphy did go on the record and say that the reason Dahlhaus had underperformed since the premiership was because he was unable to refocus after the 2016 Grand Final. You can take that anyway you like, but the bottom line is that Luke Dahlhaus has showed very little hunger since the premiership and as much as I have loved what he's done at the footy club overall, the club is better off with him walking than keeping him on board.
Geelong have offered him a four-year deal which is worth two million dollars. The Dogs' offer was a little less and at the end of the day, players will often think more about their future than loyalty, which is a damn shame, but at the same time it's understandable. Perhaps a change of colour and scenery will bring him back to the form Doggie supporters fell in love with over the past number of years, but until then, he can become Geelong's problem.
Here's another reason why the Western Bulldogs would be better off without Luke Dahlhaus – The compensation pick. For those who don't know how Free Agency works in the AFL, clubs will often receive compensation picks back for losing players, unless they actually sign players themselves.
Over the years, we've seen some ludicrous decisions – as some examples, Hawthorn were gifted pick 19 in the 2013 AFL Draft for losing a top-three player in Lance Franklin at the end of 2013 and Melbourne were handed pick three in 2014 for losing James Frawley – a man who isn't a terrible player, but not worthy of a top-three pick.
Last year, Geelong were handed a very dubious compensation pick for losing Steven Motlop to Port Adelaide. That pick was also pick 19 in the AFL draft last year. With no disrespect to Mr. Motlop, even suggesting that he's worth a second-round pick as compensation is rather generous. Several AFL fans have had this theory that pick 19 was part of a plan set by the AFL, so the Cats could send that pick up to the Gold Coast in return for Gary Ablett.
The contract that Motlop signed last year is pretty similar to what the Cats offered Dahlhaus. It is expected that it will be an end-of first round compensation. Anything less and we'll all be crying out how the AFL is inconsistent. If you ask me, I still think Dahlhaus – even with a poor 2018 – is a better footballer than Motlop.
I also need to add here an important detail. The Western Bulldogs gave their second round pick to Carlton in a trade last year that helped them secure pick 16 in the draft and helped them get Josh Schache from Brisbane. So they need an extra draft pick or two to secure some pretty handy young players that can aid them to success.
Regardless on what the end result is on the compensation pick, you can almost guarantee it that it will be used to snare up Father/Son prospect Rhylee West, who is the son of Western Bulldogs' champion, Scott West. Like his father, West has shown that he has a knack of winning the ball and if he is even half the player Scott was, then the Bulldogs will have themselves a very good player on their hands.
A bid will more than likely be placed for him late in the first round, so to have a end-of-first round compensation pick would be ideal, but it won't shock me that the AFL place it to a second round pick at best. Either way, it will be what is needed to secure him and still have the first round pick intact. Give him a few years and he could be a handy replacement for Luke Dahlhaus, if not even better.
So I will conclude this piece by wishing Luke Dahlhaus all the very best at Geelong, and I thank him for his contributions to the club, including being one of 22 to break a 62-year premiership drought. But losing him to a rival Victorian club is not the be-all-end-all of the team and what it's trying to achieve. In the last five rounds of this season that he missed due to injury, the team won three games and was close to knocking off reigning premiers Richmond.
I think the Western Bulldogs will be just fine without Luke Dahlhaus.