Western Bulldogs 1.4 6.8 8.9 12.14.86
Carlton 0.0 0.0 2.1 2.1.13
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Lochland 7, Toogood 3, Blackburn, Bruton Carlton: Arnell 2 Alex Docherty’s Best
Western Bulldogs: Lochland, Kearney, Birch, Toogood, Blackburn, Conti, Utri Carlton: S.Hosking, Arnell, Moody, Gay, Keryk, Audley
It was a history-making performance on Friday night. Unfortunately for Carlton supporters, it’ll be history made for the wrong reasons, as the Western Bulldogs and Brooke Lochland smashed all kinds of records en route to a 73-point shellacking in the AFLW’s first-ever pride game at the Whitten Oval. Just under 9,000 spectators flocked into the home of the Western Bulldogs to witness a bit of AFLW history being made.
It was the highest score ever produced in the short history of the AFLW, passing the 70-point mark that was attained by both Melbourne and Adelaide in the final round last season. The 73-point winning margin is the biggest winning margin and succeeds the 54-point margin that was achieved by Melbourne against Fremantle in the final round of last season, whilst Brooke Lochland broke the record of most goals in an AFLW game with a lazy bag of seven goals.
Sarah Perkins, Darcy Vescio and Erin Phillips previously held that feat – each kicking bags of four goals. Lochland equaled that record in just one quarter – kicking four goals in a dominant second quarter, which saw the Dogs kick 5.4 to nothing. The Dogs could’ve been up by much more than 44 points if they hadn’t had wasted their chances in front of goal in the first quarter.
Kicking against the breeze in the opening quarter, it wasn’t too long before Bonnie Toogood kicked the first goal of the game. The Dogs had controlled most of the play in the opening term. Despite the Blues doubling the inside 50 count 8-4 in the opening quarter, the Dogs had more scoring opportunities than their opponents and failed to make the most of them, only leading by 10 points at the opening quarter.
But going with the wind in the second term, the Bulldogs busted the game wide open after one of the best individual efforts in a quarter of AFLW footy. It started with a free kick to Lochland deep in the left forward pocket. Then all of a sudden she became a dangerous threat whenever the ball went forward that quarter. Carlton coach Damien Keeping just had no answers for her. She was crumbing, marking and goaling anything that went her way. Ellie Blackburn added another when she intercepted a Lauren Arnell kick deep in defence and kicked truly, letting the former Carlton captain know about it.
The Blues may have been missing Tayla Harris and their captain Bri Davey, but it didn’t help that both Danielle Hardiman and Katie Loynes were both late withdrawals as well. The Blues looked very inexperienced and showed all night long - their skills were a step below that of the Bulldogs and looked very lethargic to that of their opponents. The scoreboard read 14 scoring shots to nothing at half-time, the Bulldogs dominated and stunned the Blues.
The Dogs kept Carlton scoreless in all but one quarter, that came in the third quarter, but not before the Bulldogs bumped the margin to beyond 50 points. Brooke Lochland waltzed in to kick the record-setting fifth goal, turning back just before she booted it home in the goal-square – she was unstoppable in a team that was missing their two best forwards. They finally got a score on the board when Lauren Arnell missed a shot on goal that were greeted by Bronx cheers. Seconds later, Arnell made amends with the Blues first goal – 13 minutes into the third quarter. Arnell would kick another on the three-quarter time buzzer, but they were just mere consolation goals, as the Dogs ran rampant over a hapless Carlton side.
Lochland added another pair of goals in the final quarter to take the total to 7.3 to her career night. Only one team has managed to kick more goals than Lochland this season, that being Melbourne in round 2. The Dogs continued to use the wind to their advantage, kicking 4.5 in the last quarter to finish the match 73-point winners and send the Bulldogs to the top of the ladder with a massive percentage boost at the conclusion of round four.
Leading The Way
It was a performance of the ages by the Bulldogs, and one that even left coach Paul Groves stunned at how the Dogs obliterated a side that many had tipped them to contend for the flag.
Lochland aside (7.3 from 17 disposals, four marks and four tackles), there were a number of standouts from every line of the Bulldogs. Emma Kearney continues her outstanding 2018, with a stat-line of 26 disposals (25 kicks), six marks and five tackles, whilst the stand-in captain Ellie Blackburn had a fine game with 18 disposals, five marks, three tackles and a goal. First-year Dogs Monique Conti (16 disposals, three marks and three tackles) and Aisling Utri (18 disposals) were also very good.
Another Dog in her first year, Bonnie Toogood was outstanding up forward, booting three goals from 11 disposals and four marks in her best performance to date. Toogood was a Rising Star nominee back in round two and has continued to impress since then. Another Rising Star nominee Libby Birch had herself a monster game in defence, keeping last year’s goal-kicking champion Darcy Vescio to just three touches. Whenever the ball went forward for Carlton, Birch beat her almost every time. Along with Hannah Scott (16 disposals) who continues her great year in defence, this defensive unit has been super impressive.
Also special mentions go to Angelica Gogos (10 disposals and 11 tackles) and Kirsty Lamb (12 disposals and seven tackles) for setting the tone of the evening early. The Blues are the number one tackling team in the AFLW, but the Dogs set the tone of the contest early with outstanding pressure, which in term caused the Blues to fumble and turn the ball over.
The Opposition
The omission of Bri Davey is a huge one and one that has cost them two from two since she went down with that ACL. She’s a player a bit similar to Erin Phillips from Adelaide – a player that makes those around her better. On Friday night they missed her terribly, but even still, one Bri Davey isn’t enough to bring the entire 73-point difference back.
The Blues were terrible on Friday night and it showed with the players they had out. Along with Davey and Harris, the late omissions of both Katie Loynes and Danielle Hardiman were both massive blows. Hardiman has been a staple on the Blues' backline, whilst Loynes has been very impressive in the first part of this season. The Blues were destroyed in disposals 220-157 and were well beaten in the clearances 23-15, yet had only one less inside 50 entry than the Dogs. This is due to the poor use of the footy that the Blues displayed on Friday night.
There weren't many Carlton players that could say they had a great night. Only five Carlton players had 10 disposals or more as opposed to 12 Bulldogs players that had 10 disposals or more. The two standouts were stand-in captain Sarah Hosking, who had 18 disposals and four tackles, and former captain Lauren Arnell, who kicked the Blues' entire score with 2.1 along with 13 disposals, five tackles and three marks.
Breann Moody shouldered most of Carlton's ruck load and finished with 20 hitouts, along with 11 disposals, whilst Maddison Gay (11 disposals), Madeline Keryk (10 disposals) and Shae Audley (Seven tackles) also tried hard in what was a dirty night for the Blues. Now sitting 2-2 with a rotten percentage of just 55.7, the Blues face a mammoth task to get to the Grand Final now after four rounds played in the AFLW.
Next Week
The Western Bulldogs are travelling up to Moe to take on the last-placed Collingwood Magpies in an attempt to make it four wins from five games and are in a very good position to do so.
Despite an impressive victory over Melbourne on the weekend, the Pies have started the year with three successive losses for the second straight year, and as a result of this, they've received a lot of criticism for the way they've played. But, having defeated the Dees up in Alice Springs on Saturday does keep their very, very slim chance of making the Grand Final alive.
But to do that, they're going to have to take down the Bulldogs, who have to be amongst the premiership favourites as we conclude round four. Regardless of how many first-choice players Carlton were missing, the Bulldogs looked very good all throughout the game, and what made this victory all the better, was that they did it without either Izzy Huntington or their captain Katie Brennan.
Make no mistake about it, this women's team has established themselves as a legitimate premiership contender in season 2018.