![Ryley Sanders attempts to escape a Brodie Grundy tackle. Picture by Getty Images Ryley Sanders attempts to escape a Brodie Grundy tackle. Picture by Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/8mt7fPj3AeZSAF4grZ2EUc/c10aaa61-78b9-4dda-957b-3e7f83e9b034.jpg/r527_73_3625_1699_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has given an insight into Ryley Sanders' future.
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The 19-year-old was a late inclusion into the Dogs' side on Thursday night, taking on the substitute's role, which saw him come on the field with 15 minutes remaining in the first term.
He had 20 disposals - six kicks and 14 handballs - showing his quick hands in contested passages several times as Sydney defeated the Bulldogs by 14 points.
"The blend through that midfield group that ... gave us a bit of a chance in the three Rileys, it was like a RRR radio station in there - we had Rhylee West, Riley Garcia, Ryley Sanders and the experienced Adam Treloar holding his end up," Beveridge said.
"I thought they did an enormous job."
Beveridge also described the second-half performance of Sanders, West and Garcia as having "terrific contributions" when the in-form Ed Richards went down with an injury.
His injury may give Sanders an opportunity at a full game in the midfield next Friday night against Collingwood before the Bulldogs have their bye the following week.
With Richards and Tom Liberatore both shaping for a post-bye return, Beveridge acknowledged his side's abundance of midfielders.
"There's no doubt you can have too many midfielders and sometimes you're a victim of your own traits through your personnel so we'll need to get the balance right," he said.
"Someone needs to play as a permanent forward or elsewhere and we'll need to work out what that looks like."
He said teams with the healthiest and most prolific blend of speed and endurance are often in the league's top half, which he believes the Bulldogs are evolving into.
"Ed's part of that and Ryley Sanders over time will be a part of that," he said.
"Tom is good at that, when he comes back into the side, so we'll just work out what the best blend is when that comes up."
Thursday marked Sanders' first AFL game since April 18, where he once again started as the substitute.
Following that game, Beveridge said "the thing about the younger guys when they start at this level, it's more about what they're doing when they're not directly involved with the game", which is something that caught the eye of Fox Footy's Dermott Brereton at half-time.
The five-time premiership Hawk identified a passage of play where Sanders was matching up on Errol Gulden and the Swan ended up kicking a goal further down the field.
"[Marcus Bontempelli] goes to push and Sanders ends up on Errol Gulden and Errol Gulden is off to the races," Brereton said while analysing the play.
"We've talked about this kid Sanders and how he's a capable player but he's given Gulden a fair bit of leg rope in this contest post-stoppage.
"That's one of the things that they're trying to educate this lad on, it just doesn't always all happen at stoppage, you've got to go with them when they exit as well because Errol Gulden is going to make you pay."