Western Bulldogs 0.5 6.6 14.12 15.13.103 St. Kilda 4.2 7.4 7.9 9.14.68
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli 4, Schache 3, Greene, Jong, Macrae, Hunter, Dickson, Lipinski, Wallis, Crozier
St. Kilda: Ross 3, Lonie 2, Newnes 2, Membrey, Billings
Alex Docherty's Best
Western Bulldogs: Johannisen, Bontempelli, Macrae, Dunkley, Lipinski, Hunter, Daniel
St. Kilda: Ross, Gresham, Billings, Steele, Lonie, Carlisle
Saturday night under the roof of Etihad Stadium was a funny game of football. Not in the “ha-ha” sense, but it was a very odd game that saw one team dominate the scoreboard at the start and then ultimately ended up nearly 50 points down by three-quarter time.
The Western Bulldogs found themselves back on the winners list this weekend after rebounding from a poor start, defeating St. Kilda by 35 points in front of just over 20,000 spectators. In a round that produced multiple results that were decided by less than a goal, this one was probably one of those games that never looked like reaching the heights of games such as Richmond/Geelong or Hawthorn/Essendon.
Neither side were playing for a finals spot, but there was talk about playing for draft picks in the lead up to this game as both the Bulldogs and the Saints sit in the bottom five, with the end of the home and away season drawing near. You could tell from the opening bounce that talks of tanking were thrown out the window as both sides went out all guns blazing. Although only one side could take advantage of their opportunities.
The Bulldogs registered three behinds in the opening five minutes of play before the Saints began to get going. After Seb Ross opened up the Saints' account with the first goal of the match, they kicked a further four unanswered goals to open up a 21-point lead by quarter time, which extended to 28 early in the second term when Ross lauched home his second from just outside the 50 metre line. Both men were down to 21, when Roarke Smith and Josh Battle both suffered concussions in the first quarter from separate incidents.
At this point, the Bulldogs were butchering a lot of kicks and had missed some pretty simple opportunities at goal. Listening to the radio at the game, one commentator was predicting a triple-figure result for the Saints. But things started to change in the second quarter in favour of the Bulldogs. Fergus Greene, in game two, got the Dogs off the ground, and while the Saints kicked a couple of goals to steady themselves, they could only hold themselves four-points ahead by half-time as their opponents piled on six goals for the quarter.
That four-point lead didn't last long when the third quarter got underway, as Patrick Lipinski kicked a goal within the opening minute to give the Dogs the lead for the first time since the opening term. The Saints had multiple opportunities in front of goal and missed all of them. Jack Steven's set-shot hitting the post from close range with very little angle to speak of – could've summed up St. Kilda's season with just one disposal, they have been that inaccurate.
It also didn't help the cause that Saints' ruckman Tom Hickey was playing the entire second-half with one leg, leaving it to Jake Carlisle and Blake Acres to work as makeshift ruckmen – the former of those two hurting the Saints' defensive structures so badly. The Saints would pay for the costly misses in front of goal, with the Bulldogs beginning to run riot through the St. Kilda defence.
From the 12th minute mark until three-quarter time, the Dogs – who have been renowned for horrible third quarters this season – put on a clinic, booting seven unanswered goals, with Marcus Bontempelli kicking four of those. One was from just inside the 50 metre line, two of them came from stoppages inside 50 and another one was a classy finish from a man who reads the play so well.
They would find themselves up by 45 points by the final break, a margin that the Saints could not catch. It would've been nice to see the Dogs put them to the sword and win by a margin greater than 10 goals, but in a season that wins have been extraordinarily hard to come by, the fourth quarter was something of a disappointment that offered very few highlights. Watching Josh Schache take a pack mark in the goal-square was very pleasing to see and gives Bulldogs supporters hope that he can be the big key forward to take them back to the Finals.
There has been a lot of criticism from Jason Johannisen since he won the Norm Smith Medal in 2016, but that was perhaps the best game I've seen from him since that one day in 2016. He recorded a career-high 42 disposals, but it was his run and dash across half-back that was the most exciting. He also recorded 12 rebound 50s and five inside 50s in what was a fantastic display
Marcus Bontempelli's four goals in the third quarter was the difference that term and perhaps a sign that says that he is back to his best footy. After a sluggish start to the game, he ended up recording 22 disposals, four clearances, four marks and three inside 50s in a blistering second half. Jack Macrae (36 disposals, eight marks, seven clearances, five inside 50s and a goal) was again prolific as he continues to press claims for his first club best and fairest – maybe even a smokie for the Brownlow?
I probably sound like a broken record with the amount of times I've mentioned how greatly improved Josh Dunkley has been as a midfielder over the past month and a bit. He was again sensational – 33 disposals, seven tackles, six marks and four clearances. Perhaps to outsiders, he is getting a little overlooked with how much football he gets. Caleb Daniel (29 disposals, 10 marks and four rebound 50s) was also very impressive on Saturday night, as was Jordan Roughead (
Another player worth pointing out is the game of young Patrick Lipinski who probably has played his best game in his short career (22 disposals, 10 marks, six tackles, four inside 50s and a goal) – perhaps a Rising Star nomination to come his way? Aaron Naughton (13 disposals, seven marks – four intercept marks – and two rebound 50s) also had a nice game in defence and is also deserving of a nomination before the end of the season.
It wasn't a great night for the Saints, but at least they can say that debutant Nathan Freeman got through the game unscathed after a multitude of injuries in his five seasons in the league. After he shanked his first kick on the wing, he steadied and finished with 19 disposals on the night in what can only be positive signs going forward.
St. Kilda's best player by far was Seb Ross, who not only reached the 40-disposal mark for the first time in his career, but he added a personal best three goals to his career-high 40 disposals, nine marks and five inside 50s. Jack Lonie was St. Kilda's other multiple goal-kicker and was very dangerous up forward, kicking two goals from 21 disposals and 11 marks.
Jack Billings is always going to be remembered as the player who was picked before 'The Bont' in the 2013 AFL Draft – Billings was third overall, Bontempelli was fourth – and whilst Billings' game was pretty good (27 disposals, eight marks, eight inside 50s, five tackles and 1.3), it was the Bont who had the bigger impact on the contest. Jade Gresham also continues his great 2018 season (26 disposals, six tackles, five clearances and four inside 50s), however was inaccurate, booting three behinds.
There weren't many other players that played well. Jake Carlisle was influential in defence in the first half and ended with 21 disposals, 10 marks and four rebound 50s as he had to work around the ground more in the second half. Jack Steele was on Jack Macrae and tried hard (21 disposals, eight tackles and six marks), but he was no match for the in-form Bulldog, whilst captain Jarryn Geary also tried hard (24 disposals and eight marks).
The Western Bulldogs will renew hostilities with the North Melbourne Football Club next Sunday and will see this as an opportunity to get one against the Roos after a nail-biting game back in round 14. As it stands after 20 rounds, North remain a good chance to play finals – how good would it be to knock North out of contention with a win next weekend. The Bulldogs may not be playing for a spot in the eight this year, but they can still help determine who makes the eight and North will definitely be looking to bank another four points next weekend as they look towards September.