LUKE Beveridge was the defensive mastermind who crafted a Hawthorn backline containing just one true key defender into a major weapon in consecutive premierships.

Now in his second season with the Western Bulldogs as senior coach, he hasn't taken his eye off that part of the ground for one moment. As the 2016 season reaches the halfway point, his backline is the most miserly in the competition, conceding just 760 points so far, an average of 69.1 per game.

On Sunday at Etihad Stadium, the Dogs took on the Eagles, who averaged 104.6 points a game, and kept them to 75 points, just enough to preserve an important eight-point win.

Making the feat all the more remarkable - and this points to Beveridge's true genius - is that the Dogs have been without captain and spiritual leader Robert Murphy since round four, rebound specialist Jason Johannisen since round five and have also missed key players Easton Wood and Matt Suckling at critical junctures.

At Hawthorn it was the system that got things done and it is the same at the Bulldogs. It explains why 2015 All Australian Easton Wood can be a pre-match withdrawal and the unheralded Fletcher Roberts can fill the void and play with unbridled confidence, or why ninth-gamer Marcus Adams can keep Coleman Medal contender Josh Kennedy to five touches and a goal.

The Bulldogs are blessed with emerging talent everywhere, but premiership teams are built on the back of great backlines. The evidence is mounting that that is just what Beveridge is constructing at the Whitten Oval.

The takeout for West Coast is that a team with genuine premiership aspirations has now lost four of five on the road. In three games in Victoria in 2016 the Eagles have kicked seven goals (Hawthorn, round 2), 12 goals (Geelong round 7) and 11 (Western Bulldogs, round 7).

The Eagles won't win the premiership by kicking cricket-like scores on their quirky Domain Stadium deck. They need to grind out wins outside Western Australia although credit where it is due, they rallied late in the final term and got back within a kick, giving the Bulldogs a real scare before Tom Liberatore kicked the sealer.

But the damage was done and the Eagles now find themselves two games adrift of second place. They don't appear good enough to finish in the top two or to win finals on the road. 2015 was their gilt-edged chance to win a flag, they couldn't get it done and their path to the Grand Final this year seems considerably harder.

Street fighting Cats eye September

That's a win apiece for Geelong and Greater Western Sydney against each other and you would hope there is a deciding rubber match between these emerging rivals before the end of the season. 

The Steve Johnson factor has added a new dimension to matches between these two clubs and his trademark freakish snap goal in the opening minutes set the scene for a memorable afternoon of football.

This one was a street fight, one replete with momentum shifts and all sorts of individual highlights. The difference in the end might have been Geelong skipper Joel Selwood, who put an indifferent start (and a quiet fortnight before that) behind him with a brilliant final term that featured 12 disposals, a goal, four tackles and three clearances. 

Not that there should be any doubt, but all the proof you need as to why Selwood is one of the elite players – and best leaders – in the AFL were on show in that epic final quarter. 

It was a major win for the Cats, stopping their losing streak at two and setting up a monster clash with North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night. 

The Giants have fallen short the last two weeks, both on the road. It probably suggests they are still at least one year away from true premiership contention, but they can do horrible things to good teams at on their home deck, as Hawthorn can attest, which is why all roads will lead to Spotless Stadium for the twilight game next Sunday against the crosstown Sydney Swans.

Regenerating Hawks not dropping off

Kade Stewart made his debut for Hawthorn on Saturday and what a quick elevation it was, progressing from the rookie list to the MCG in less than a week.

The Hawks have now unveiled four debutants this year – Kieran Lovell, Marc Pittonet and Kaiden Brand are the others – while youngsters James Sicily, Tim O'Brien and Daniel Howe have also had lengthy exposure at AFL level this year.

The Hawks are attempting a difficult balancing act in 2016 as they attempt to regenerate while having a stab at history by trying to win a fourth straight flag.

At 8-3, they're right in the mix and their hopes of a top four finish at the end of the home and away season are on track. That has been their recipe for success in seasons past and the platform from which they hope to win it again in 2016.

But even though they're better placed than last year, they're not entirely convincing. With 11 games down and 11 to go, their percentage of 108.94 is their lowest at this time of the year since 2010. 

They're averaging 98.5 points game compared to 109.5 at the midpoint of last season and the effects of missing their two first-choice key forwards, Jarryd Roughead and Ryan Schoenmakers is plain to see. They're scrounging their goals and so far, albeit just, it has been enough. 

Such is the respect the Hawks have garnered the last few years that nobody is game to dismiss their premiership hopes. Their phenomenal success in close games this year suggests that the hunger is still there. There is not one team in the competition that would relish the thought of a finals clash with the September specialists, particularly at the MCG.

But they're playing with house money this year. Win it yet again and it will be the most incredible of accomplishments. It will be the football story not just of this year, but of this decade. Fall short and it has been a golden era nonetheless and the seeds of another possible premiership campaign might yet have been planted.

Other observations

1. The timeslot was dreadful. The weather was dreadful and as it turned out, so was the football. Collingwood turned in a stinker on Sunday in front of just 28,567 fans, the club's lowest MCG crowd since 2004, thrashed by 67 points by Port Adelaide. At 4-7, there is no convincing case to be mounted that the Pies can turn this around and play finals. The focus was on Travis Cloke and with 10 possessions, he went OK. But the heat for this one will fall on the Magpie defence, which was shredded by Port and its medium forwards - Jake Neade, Aaron Young and Chad Wingard - who kicked 11 goals between them. Nathan Buckley will look to the VFL for reinforcements, but for the first time in a long time, Collingwood will enter the Queen's Birthday clash with Melbourne as the clear underdogs.

2. The Power looked great in slicing Collingwood apart, but that's their shtick. When they're up and about, they're irrepressible, but Ken Hinkley's men still pick and choose when to give an honest account of themselves, and it must drive him mad. Still, what was great on Sunday was that the likes of Young, Jarman Impey, Sam Gray and Darcy Byrne-Jones gave the side a fresh look and some real spark and on a weekend chock-full of enticing games, Saturday afternoon's home game against the Western Bulldogs should be a beauty. Put your skates on.

3. When St Kilda ran Hawthorn to within three points at Aurora Stadium in round four, having also played well against Port on the road in the season opener, it appeared that winning interstate was the next hurdle about to be jumped as part of Alan Richardson's methodical rebuild of the football club. But the Saints have since taken giants steps backwards since then, kicking just three goals against the Eagles in round eight and only six on Sunday against the Crows in their return to Adelaide Oval. They've now dropped seven straight on the road going back to last season and if social media is a guide, then Saints fans are getting restless. Richardson needs to fix this.

4. Outside of a final, has there rarely been more pre-game noise about the fitness of any particular player as there was about North Melbourne's Todd Goldstein on Friday night. I'm not sure whether that was driven by, a) tipping, b) betting or c) fantasy, but it reached the stage where the Kangaroos confirmed that he was out several minutes ahead of the deadline requiring them to do so. As it was, they cruised to a 70-point win with Majak Daw more than serviceable as Goldstein's replacement. Leigh Matthews reckons Daw could play first ruck at up to 12 clubs and the vanquished Tigers might well be at the top of the list of potential suitors come October. The Kangas looked good, but Geelong and the Hawks in the next fortnight shape as huge tests. 

5. Given the precedent of 2014, Damien Hardwick is right to not to give up on the season just yet, but it is hard to reconcile the "schoolboy" Tigers from Friday night having even the most remote chance of playing finals. Injuries dealt them an unfortunate hand against North, but they look miles off it right now. 

6. Tiger stamps, or as was the precedent at Carrara Stadium version 1.0, free meals at McDonalds should be the reward for the 4368 hardy souls who ventured to Metricon Stadium on Saturday night. Apart from the incredible amount of surface water, about the only notable feature was the ridiculous tackle count - 131 for the Swans and 115 for the Suns. Rodney Eade feared the awful conditions would favour the bigger-bodied visitors and he was right, although once again, he had little reason to fault his club's endeavour. The Swans bank the win and enjoy an extra day to rest up ahead of a massive derby clash with the Giants on Sunday evening. 

7. Melbourne has now lost 13 matches to Hawthorn stretching back to 2007, but that streak won't last too much longer. The Demons were really good in patches against the Hawks and there was a fair case to say that the three best players on the ground – Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince – were from the losing team. Indeed, Wayne Carey voted that way on Triple M. It was a losing effort that nevertheless highlighted the progress made by the side under Paul Roos and the highlight of the day was the encouraging return after two years of former skipper Jack Trengove. Both the opponent and the conditions made it a tough return clash but he'll be better for the run and ready for the big stage against Collingwood on Queen's Birthday.

8. The magnitude of the task ahead of Essendon for the rest of the season was laid bare on Saturday night at Domain Stadium. John Worsfold's best 22 barely passes muster, but once injuries bite, the Bombers really are below AFL standard and it is hard to see them winning any more games this season. Their top-up players are feeling the effects of their limited pre-seasons and the young players are starting to find the season a grind. Essendon's personnel plight will be laid bare for all to see on what shapes as a thoroughly unwatchable Friday night clash with Hawthorn.

9. Nice touch by the Freo fans to applaud Ryan Crowley on Saturday night as their one-time tagger extraordinaire hobbled off with a hamstring injury. But they were entitled to feel charitable as their side stormed to their first win of the season. They're off the bottom of the ladder and a win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday will likely confirm they won't return there for the remainder of the season.

10. That's six from seven for the Bluebaggers, but the biggest takeaway from Etihad Stadium on Saturday was the crowd – 30,722, which is 10,000 more than for the corresponding fixture last season. Carlton supporters are re-emerging from everywhere and the strut is back. Bring your earplugs to work on Monday.