Western Bulldogs 4.1 7.4 7.5 9.5.59
Hawthorn 6.0 7.2 14.6 19.8.122
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Wallis 3, Hunter 2, Schache, Gowers, Biggs, Daniel
Hawthorn: Breust 6, Roughead 4, Gunston 4, Smith 2, Morrison, O’Meara, Howe
Alex Docherty’s Best
Western Bulldogs: Johannisen, Dunkley, Hunter, Morris, Lynch, Wallis
Hawthorn: Breust, Gunston, O’Meara, Smith, Stratton, Sicily, Howe
A healthy crowd of just over 35,000 were given a treat on Saturday night as three teams turned up on the Etihad Stadium turf: Hawthorn, the Western Bulldogs and the imposters that replaced them after half-time. After what had been such a promising start, with both sides delivering an exciting battle, the Hawks put their foot on the proverbial throttle and left the Bulldogs in their wake, turning a two-point half-time deficit into a 63-point win.
It was so disappointing to see from a supporter’s perspective on Saturday night, as the last two weeks looked as if the Western Bulldogs had turned the corner after such a poor year, and I believed this was a game that they could not just match the Hawks, but beat them as well. The first half proved that they could very well keep in touch.
They led by as much as 13 points during the first quarter and were giving them a good fight. I loved that Shane Biggs got into the face of James Sicily after he couldn’t spoil Billy Gowers in a marking contest and then was rewarded 50 as Sicily threw him into the ground. You could tell that they were going to be on – their intensity was up and they weren’t afraid to get into the faces of their opposition.
However, the sharp touch in front of the big sticks got them the lead at quarter time. They had kicked six of ten first-quarter goals by the first break and small forward Luke Breust had four of them, it looked as if no Dog could’ve touched him. There were a couple of free kicks to him that had Bulldogs’ supporters crying out foul, but to be honest, the poor calls went both ways.
The Bulldogs controlled the second term, kicking three goals to just the Hawks’ one as scoring began to dry up after a high-scoring opening quarter. but that’s not to say Hawthorn didn’t have their opportunities, because they had 12 inside 50s for the term. Brilliant defence from the likes of Dale Morris, Marcus Adams and the run of Jason Johannisen was key in the second term. Johannisen was the clear standout in the opening half, recording 25 disposals up to the main break and was in amongst everything and was given plenty of room to run.
That’s where it all ended for the Bulldogs however, as they looked like they didn’t want to run and they were satisfied with the job half-done. Hawthorn piled on the goals at an alarming rate and eventually doubled their goal-tally from half-time by three-quarter time. The fact that Hawthorn had 11 scoring shots for 7.4 to the Bulldogs’ one behind is an indictment to how dominant the Hawks were and in turn, how horrible and non-existent the Bulldogs were.
I must’ve lost count of the numerous missed tackles that the Bulldogs’ players and the amount of times players got caught holding the ball after half-time. There was no urgency to move the ball and answer back to the goals that Hawthorn were putting on, and that’s probably the most deflating thing about this result. It drew very similar comparisons to the game against Collingwood to which the Bulldogs failed to turn up after half-time and that was equally as embarrassing to watch, if not worse.
The only difference between that game and this one is that on this occasion, the Dogs could actually manage a goal after the main break – two to be precise, but by the time Caleb Daniel goaled and Mitch Wallis kicked his third for the night, the result was already decided and those goals were merely just consolation prizes. Down by 43 points at three-quarter time, the Hawks wasted no time in the fourth quarter, with Isaac Smith kicking a goal within the opening five minutes of the last term to put any notion of a miraculous Bulldog comeback to rest.
Jason Johannisen only had seven disposals after half-time after he was tagged out of the game by Harry Morrison, but overall, this was his best game of the season (32 disposals, eight marks and six inside 50s), whilst Josh Dunkley (23 disposals, 10 tackles, six marks and five inside 50s) continues to impress playing a lot more time in the middle. He had the task of shutting down Tom Mitchell and did reasonably well. Despite keeping him to 27 disposals, Mitchell didn’t have a major impact like he has done over the past year and a bit.
Lachie Hunter (26 disposals, six marks and two goals) was also one player that could hold his head high. Mitch Wallis’ three goals as a highlight for someone who is out of contract at the end of the year, the defensive work of Dale Morris (16 disposals and seven marks) and Marcus Adams (18 disposals, six marks and seven rebound 50s) was imperative in the first half, whilst Brad Lynch in his second game (23 disposals, five marks and five rebound 50s) showed a lot of promise.
However Zaine Cordy (seven disposals and 0 marks), Billy Gowers (seven disposals at 42 percent efficiency) and Tom Boyd (nine disposals and 0 marks) all had really poor games and needed to do better. I'll even go as far to say that Shane Biggs – as much as I respect and admired what he did in the premiership year – must not play another game this year. Every game he’s played this year, he’s done next to nothing and even switching from his usual home in defence to forward, he struggled all night.
Hawthorn’s Luke Breust equaled a career-best, bagging six goals and really set the tone for the Hawks early in the game with four of those coming in the first quarter and finished with 24 disposals, eight marks and seven tackles in a fantastic performance up forward. Jack Gunston was a key reason why they were able to run away with it in the third quarter, kicking three goals, finishing the night with four from 21 disposals and 10 marks, whilst captain Jarryd Roughead also managed to kick himself four goals from 18 disposals and six marks.
The Hawks dominated in the clearances for most of the night. Tom Mitchell was reasonably held, but still had nine clearances. Jaeger O’Meara played a very great game (28 disposals, eight clearances and one goal). Isaac Smith was very damaging after half-time, finishing with 30 disposals and two goals, whilst Daniel Howe did a brilliant job curtailing the influence of Marcus Bontempelli, as well as picking up a lot of the footy (25 disposals, eight marks, six clearances, six tackles and a goal).
The Hawthorn defence was also very solid and should be commended for another good performance. Ben Stratton has often been an underrated player in the entire league, but he was brilliant in stopping the Bulldogs’ forward movements, particularly after half-time. James Frawley was also solid without starring, whilst James Sicily rebounded from that poor moment in the first quarter to be one of the better players on the ground (28 disposals, 12 marks, and eight rebound 50s).
Whilst the Hawks are in the eight and are in a good position, this loss extinguishes any bare chance the Western Bulldogs had of making finals. Sitting 5-10 and with matches against Melbourne at the MCG and West Coast in Perth to come, it may get very ugly before they get a chance to win games against Port Adelaide, St. Kilda, Carlton and North Melbourne.
Whilst this game was without doubt a very poor performance, it’ll definitely benefit the likes of Patrick Lipinski, Roarke Smith, Ed Richards and so many others down the line. Let’s just hope that they can bring a more consistent effort against the Demons next Saturday evening, because the second half, all the supporters witnessed on Saturday night was downright diabolical.