When the SCG turf shifted under Adam Cooney, the foundations of the Western Bulldogs' AFL finals campaign were seriously shaken.

Cooney's coach Rodney Eade blamed a substandard patch of the ground for a strained hamstring that will put the Brownlow Medallist out of action for up to three weeks.

Captain Brad Johnson is also in trouble, with an Achilles complaint to be assessed on Monday.

But Eade's greatest concern is for the overall wellbeing of his team, who are playing their worst football of the year only one round out from September.

"Our worst is really the last two weeks," said Eade after a 101-point hiding at the hands of Geelong was followed by a 44-point loss to Sydney.

"The other times we've lost by nine points and three points and we haven't had that poor effort consistently at all, it's just been the last two weeks.

"Last week was very poor, (against Sydney) there were probably some extenuating circumstances but at least there was fight there in the third quarter.

"We ran out of legs in the last quarter but there are some areas we need to address, there's no doubt about that and we're not going to hide away from that.

"Our leaders who've played more than a hundred games, they're the players we need to stand up."

The strains of a serious virus that ran through the club, and the ongoing soap opera surrounding Jason Akermanis, were compounded by the loss of Cooney in circumstances usually associated with Melbourne's roofed Etihad Stadium.

"The ground shifted so we'll have to check the SCG really," Eade said.

"Down in that pocket there was shifting turf which caused his hamstring so we're certainly disappointed.

"The AFL, they talk about Etihad (Stadium) but what about the safety of the (SCG) ground?

"He landed and the turf gave way, shifted on him, and he tore a hamstring, so obviously player safety is an issue there and we need to address that.

"It is (a big factor in our finals campaign), and people want to talk about other stadiums but that's not good enough."

An AFL spokesman said there had not yet been any official complaint from the Bulldogs, and noted concerns about the SCG were unusual outside of periodic queries about the cricket pitches in the centre square.

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