Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli has a fiery message for fans who were filmed hitting the team with vicious abuse after their shock loss to West Coast

Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli has hit out at the club’s fans after video footage emerged of the club’s stars copping withering abuse as they walked off the pitch after their shock loss to the West Coast Eagles on Sunday afternoon.

With their season on the line, coach Luke Beveridge’s side turned in a listless performance at Marvel Stadium and were ambushed by a team that had won just four of their previous 47 games.

Trailing by nine points at three-quarter time, West Coast finished stronger than their far more highly rated opposition with the first four goals of the last term to score a famous 14.8 (92) to 12.13 (85) triumph that will go down as the season’s biggest upset.

The Bulldogs will need to defeat Geelong at GMHBA Stadium next Saturday night to have any chance of featuring in the finals for a fifth straight season.

Footage uploaded to social media after the match showed fans screaming abuse at Bulldogs stars as they left the pitch in ugly scenes reminiscent of Carlton supporters’ behaviour earlier this year.

‘Show your true colours, pal!’ said one voice. ‘Do you accept that s**t, do ya?’

Another voice screams: ‘Pathetic! Pathetic! F**king pathetic! Bullshit! Put your heads down! Heads down! Pathetic!’

A different torrent of abuse is then seemingly directed towards underperforming coach Luke Beveridge: ‘Get out of the club – you f**king ruined it!’

Bontempelli had a message for the supporters who unleashed on the team.

‘It’s never justified,’ he said.

‘You understand there are a wide range of people who support you and are emotionally invested in the game. You don’t accept it but you understand why people are so passionate.

‘You want people to support you and be proud of your efforts. I understand it but I don’t accept it.’

Beveridge, who coached the Bulldogs to the 2016 premiership, is contracted until the end of 2025.

But the heat will come onto Beveridge if the Bulldogs fail to make finals this year with a star-studded list headlined by Brownlow Medal favourite Marcus Bontempelli.

‘Absolutely,’ Beveridge responded when asked if he was the man to continue leading the Bulldogs.

‘Sometimes you need to evolve, and if at the moment, we’re in this sort of static area of a performance point of view, we’ll work out why it is.

‘But from a leadership perspective and coaching the team and the club, I’m really comfortable with my tenure.’

Beveridge said the challenge of beating the Cats in Geelong, where the Bulldogs last won in 2003, was one of the biggest of his nine-season coaching career.

‘It’s all about sticking together,’ he said.

‘Any time in this game when you face adversity, which we are, it’s about making sure that you’re glued together looking towards the week trying to find optimism.’

‘It’s been 20 years since we’ve won down there (in Geelong), and as much as we haven’t won in my time, we all inherit the previous 10 or 11 (losses).’

The result drags the Eagles off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since May 21, meaning they will avoid claiming the club’s second wooden spoon if North Melbourne don’t beat Gold Coast next week.

West Coast had been in the box-seat to snare Harley Reid, this year’s nominal No.1 draft pick, for most of the season as they occupied the bottom of the table.

It comes just days after West Coast’s board began contemplating the future of 2018 premiership coach Adam Simpson following last week’s record derby loss to Fremantle.

The Bulldogs lacked the spark that Eagles stars Tim Kelly (32 possessions), Jamie Cripps (five goals, including three in the last quarter) and Oscar Allen (three goals) had in spades.

‘It’s been a pretty heavy last few weeks. Really proud of them,’ Eagles coach Adam Simpson said.

‘Obviously galvanised throughout the week after bad game against Fremantle, and our younger players followed our leaders.’

The only downside for the Eagles was a hamstring injury to Eagles premiership hero Elliot Yeo, who will miss the farewell game for club legends Shannon Hurn and Luke Shuey against Adelaide on Saturday night.