Western Bulldogs 3.3 4.4 5.6 7.9.51 GWS Giants 4.2 11.4 17.4 20.13.133
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Roughead 2, Dale, Dunkley, Gowers, Honeychurch, Suckling
GWS Giants: Cameron 6, Greene 4, Patton 2, Coniglio 2, Kelly 2, Tomlinson, Himmelberg, Langdon, Shiel
Alex Docherty's Best Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Hunter, Dahlhaus, English, Dunkley, Dale GWS Giants: Coniglio, Kelly, Cameron, Whitfield, Greene, Taranto, Shiel
I have seen a lot of things in the two decades I've supported the Western Bulldogs football club. I've seen close games, memorable thumpings on both sides and I've seen the club farewell stalwarts in either memorable victories or heartbreaking losses.
But what I witnessed on Sunday afternoon would have to come close to one of the worst performances I've seen from this club in those twenty years. The Western Bulldogs have started the 2018 season in the worst way possible as they were handed down a thumping from the Greater Western Sydney Giants to the tune of 82 points in the nation's capital.
Apart from the last fifteen minutes of the first quarter, the Dogs looked well beaten in every aspect of the game by a Greater Western Sydney team that looked a class above their opposition all game long. Granted, the Dogs were a bit inexperienced in defence against a five-star forward line and that there were a few players from the 2016 premiership team missing, but that excuse can only go so far in football.
In blustery conditions at Manuka Oval, the Giants kicked the opening four goals of the game within the first 17 minutes and looked headed for a huge win early on in the quarter, before the Bulldogs eventually steadied with their use of the ball and kicked three in a row, to only be down by five points at quarter time – miraculous when you think about the fact that GWS had nearly 40 more disposals than the Dogs in the opening quarter.
Unfortunately, that was as close as it was going to get for the red, white and blues. Tom Liberatore's knee buckled late in the first quarter and it was confirmed later in the day that the 2014 Charlie Sutton Medal winner had done the ACL in his right knee, just over three years after he had torn his left ACL in a Pre-Season game, which only made the Dogs' woeful day at the office even worse. It's a shame when you think about how much Liberatore has copped for a bad 2017 and looked really good during the pre-season games.
The Giants did as they pleased, kicking 13 goals to two in the next two quarters of the game. Leading by 42 points at half-time and leading by 70 at three-quarter time. There was absolutely no pressure on the Giants' leading ball winners and there were times where the majority of players resembled red, white and blue witches-hats. If you don't believe me, have a look at the stats sheet. The Giants had 90 more disposals (437-347), 78 more uncontested possessions (287-209) and they took 51 more marks than the Bulldogs did, recording 119 to their 68. Of those 119 marks, only eight of them were contested. That's a remarkable statistic and it also tells you that the Bulldogs allowed them to roam around Manuka Oval with little to no resistance.
Defensively, it was an such an incredibly inept performance by a side that focussed on defence and ultimately won them a historic premiership. That all feels like a distant memory now.
Where has that manic pressure gone? Why in the hell is Shane Biggs playing on a much bigger Jon Patton? Why in the hell is Zaine Cordy playing on a much smaller Toby Greene? And for the love of Whitten Oval why is Luke Beveridge persisting on a putting an All-Australian defender who has had little experience as a forward as the full-forward option?
From what I've read on social media, the supporters demand answers from the coaching staff and personally I don't blame them. Being outclassed by a top-four contender is one thing, but the lack of effort that I saw overall from this side yesterday is something entirely different. There was no heart, no spirit and certainly none of that belief that was there when the Bulldogs won the 2016 premiership.
If it wasn't for a horribly inaccurate fourth quarter from the Giants – kicking 3.9 to the Bulldogs' 2.3 – this margin would've no doubt blown to triple-digits. This was a completely despicable performance from Luke Beveridge's Bulldogs, but even with that now in the rear mirror, there are some things that I am optimistic about.
It is a shame that among those that did give it an almighty crack, included a young man who made his debut for the club yesterday in Billy Gowers, a young man that is only in his second year in the system and played his third AFL game in Tim English and although young Aaron Naughton in his first game was fed to the proverbial Wolves, he did what he could under the circumstances and he will be better for it in the long run.
English had a steady stat-line that read 13 disposals, six marks – half of those being contested – as well as four inside 50s and 12 hitouts. But the thing that impressed me the most was that he wasn't afraid to throw his body into the contest. I hope he plays a bit more often this year – he'll be better off with the experience. Billy Gowers (10 disposals, three tackles and one goal) gave it a go in his first AFL game as did Naughton who had to face a mighty onslaught from the Giants.
Jack Macrae (31 disposals, nine inside 50s, five marks, five clearances and four rebound 50s) and Lachie Hunter (32 disposals, six marks and four clearances) were the only Bulldogs that cracked the 30-disposal mark on Sunday. Macrae is the epitome of consistency and no matter the result, you know what you're going to get with him, whilst Hunter looked like he was back to his 2016 form, where he averaged 27 disposals per game. Luke Dahlhaus (29 disposals, eight clearances and four tackles) Josh Dunkley (16 disposals, eight tackles and a goal) and Bailey Dale (20 disposals, six marks and a goal) also played well.
Aside from that, there was minimal impact from the team's bigger names. Marcus Bontempelli (18 disposals), Jason Johannisen (19 disposals, 0 tackles) struggled to impact on the contest, Jordan Roughead didn't do much else apart from the two goals he kicked whilst big-name recruit Jackson Trengove had only four handballs in 84 percent game time, which is clearly not good enough.
The Giants had winners all over the ground. In the middle, Stephen Coniglio (32 disposals, 10 inside 50s, eight marks, seven tackles, five clearances and two goals) and Josh Kelly (29 disposals, six marks, five tackles, four inside 50s and two goals) were unstoppable – or maybe the Dogs just didn't want to go anywhere near them? Nonetheless, they were brilliant, as was second-year Giant Tim Taranto, who had 32 disposals, 10 inside 50s, eight clearances and five tackles
Jeremy Cameron and Toby Greene tortured up forward with 10 goals between them. Say what you will about Toby Greene – call him a thug, a grub and a dirty player, but at the end of the day, he is still a hell of a player. 25 disposals, 10 marks, five inside 50s and four goals is a very good stat-line, whilst Cameron looks set for another huge season, kicking six goals, whilst Zac Langdon (seven disposals, six tackles and a goal) looked a real find for the Giants and his pressure could add another dimension to the Giants' forward line in 2018.
A big question that needed to be answered is that of their half-back line. With Nathan Wilson gone to Fremantle and Zac Williams out for the year, where would their drive come from? Heath Shaw was good without starring (22 disposals and seven marks), but the stars off half-back were Lachie Whitfield (34 disposals, nine marks and three rebound 50s) and second-gamer Jeremy Finlayson (20 disposals, six rebound 50s and four marks).
One game doesn't make a season, and there is still a lot to play out in 2018, but if that sort of stuff keeps happening, then the Western Bulldogs could be in for a very long season. It's a dreadful start to the year I know, but as my father always told me – Things can only go up from here.
The Western Bulldogs play their first home game of the year as they take on the West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium on Easter Sunday in a game that the Doggies definitely have a chance of winning. The Eagles also lost their round one encounter this weekend – at their new home that is Perth Stadium to the Sydney Swans.
Not only do they have a chance of winning, they probably need to win this game to get the confidence levels up, because they looked short of confidence up in Canberra on the weekend. They need to regain some of that heart and some of that passion that got them to the promised land less than 24 months ago, because they looked nowhere near it on Sunday – they hardly gave out a whimper.