Western Bulldogs 6.0 8.3 11.6 14.11.95
Richmond 5.1 7.7 12.8 15.8.98
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Gowers 3, Dunkley 2, Lynch 2, Schache, Greene, Trengove, Macrae, Richards, Williams, Wallis
Richmond: Riewoldt 5, Graham 3, Castagna 2, Rioli, Martin, Caddy, Nankervis, McIntosh
Alex Docherty's Best
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Daniel, Hunter, Dunkley, Bontempelli, Naughton, Gowers
Richmond: Riewoldt, Martin, Graham, Nankervis, Prestia, Houli
Talk about saving the best for last. The 2018 AFL season may not have been the year of the Bulldog, but they made sure that they gave the premiership favourites Richmond a scare throughout the Punt Road camp. Unfortunately, for all their hard work and effort throughout Saturday afternoon, they didn't put them away, as the Tigers escaped with a three-point win – keeping their 21-game winning streak at the MCG intact.
In a game where many predicted the Bulldogs would get a walloping from the Tigers, who had sewn up the minor premiership the week before, the visiting Bulldogs got off to a flyer, booting six goals straight in the opening term to serve it right up to the home side. As a matter of fact, they were leading the Tigers for the most part of the first half.
They looked hungry for the ball, they dared themselves to run through the middle of the MCG and at many times, they looked very good in doing it. The Tigers capitalised on several Bulldog turnovers, which is something that they have proven to be extremely good at over the past 12 months. It was why they managed to stay in touch with the Bulldogs for the most part of the first half.
Jack Graham's three opening quarter goals kept the Tigers well in it, before the Western Bulldogs began to open up a little bit of breathing room in what was looking like a goal-fest. Goals to Jack Macrae and Brad Lynch gave the Dogs a five-point edge at quarter time. This extended to 17 points early in the second term with a pair of goals to Josh Dunkley. The Dogs were looking prominent.
But from the moment Josh Dunkley's second goal went through, that was when the Tigers began to take control of the ball. However, for all their domination of the ball, they could only manage to put in 2.5 as the Dogs held on to the lead at half-time – the margin just two points. Richmond looked very shaky with the ball at times – which was unlike them. One would have to imagine that they were not playing at full capacity.
Let's not to take anything away from the Bulldogs' effort, which shall hold them in good stead for 2019. Richmond's intensity did pick up in the second half, and there were moments which looked like it would be the Tigers running away from a young Bulldogs side. But the Bulldog continued to stick with them. Ed Richards kicked a very nice goal from 50 metres and Billy Gowers took a nice mark to make an eight-point deficit into a two-point lead.
This was then followed by a three-goal burst from the Tigers, which gave them a 14-point lead just before three-quarter time, before Gowers again bobbed up for a badly-needed goal, to trim it to just eight points at the final break, setting up an exciting fourth quarter.
The Tigers looked the best of the two sides in the last quarter, with Jack Riewoldt kicking two of the first three goals of the term. Even with Patrick Lipinski laid out with a bit of friendly fire, the Bulldogs were still fighting to stay alive. There were several opportunities that went begging – none more disappointingly than Marcus Bontempelli, who missed an easy set-shot on goal. Billy Gowers had a tougher shot on goal – much further out and a much more tighter angle – that hit the post.
Jason Castagna made them pay with a goal the other end to make it an 18-point ball game and almost out of reach for the Bulldogs. But there was more to play out yet. Mitch Wallis again proved his worth by kicking a badly-needed goal, before a dubious free kick to Billy Gowers led to his third goal of the game and it was back to a five-point margin with a few minutes left to play.
From here, the Bulldogs had control of possession, but were unable to find a breakthrough. That is until Brad Lynch – in just his ninth game of footy marked the ball on a tight angle and with seconds left to go went with a snap on goal that hit the post. This ensured the Tigers' luckiest escape in the 21 consecutive wins they have had at the MCG. Even Richmond coach Damien Hardwick went as far as to say that the side 'would lose a final if they'd played like that.'
As far as the Western Bulldogs go, season 2018 will go down as a big fail overall, but the past four weeks have seen plenty of encouraging signs that will undoubtedly set the scene for a big 2019. This side is not as bad as what a 13th placed team suggests, and with Liam Picken set to return next year, along with another pre-season in young boys such as Brad Lynch, Aaron Naughton, Ed Richards, Bailey Williams and Pat Lipinski, there's no reason why this club can't rise again.
Jack Macrae is perhaps the biggest positive all throughout the year. Saturday afternoon saw him rack up another 40-plus possession game (43 disposals), along with 14 marks, seven tackles, six inside 50s and one goal. This man is poised for a place in the All-Australian team this year and undoubtedly the next Charlie Sutton Medal winner. Caleb Daniel (29 disposals, six marks and six rebound 50s) has been sensational over the past month, playing as a half-back flanker, whilst Lachie Hunter (35 disposals, 12 marks and five inside 50s) capped off a great season in his own right.
Josh Dunkley has had a magnificent back-end of 2018 and proved it with another workman-like performance (28 disposals, seven marks, three clearances and two goals). Marcus Bontempelli, despite his bad miss in the last quarter, continued to showcase his talent in general play (29 disposals, seven marks, eight tackles and three clearances) and Jackson Trengove was again solid as the primary ruckman (16 disposals, 15 hitouts, seven tackles, six marks and one goal).
Billy Gowers (three goals from 13 disposals and eight marks) capped off a fantastic debut season, playing all but two games and finishing with 26.20 for the year. Remarkable when you think that two years ago, he was delisted from Carlton's rookie list. Aaron Naughton was a rock in defence (18 disposals, nine marks – five contested – and four rebound 50s) and will no doubt be one of the key pillars in defence for years to come.
While it looked like Richmond weren't playing at full capacity, there were still winners all across the ground. Jack Riewoldt's five goals were unquestionably match-winning and everytime the Bulldogs had an answer in the second-half, Riewoldt would be the one that changed the questions. 5.2 from 14 disposals and seven marks were enough for Jack to secure his third Coleman Medal – which is the first time anyone in Richmond colours has done that. Previously securing Coleman Medals in 2010 and 2012.
As Riewoldt was kicking goals up forward, last year's Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin looked like returning to his best footy after a year of battling calf injuries. Like Macrae for the Bulldogs, Martin had a ton of the footy, finishing the day with 33 disposals, nine clearances, 12 inside 50s and a goal. Dion Prestia was also very impressive in the middle, gathering a lot of the footy and looked good upon his return (28 disposals, six marks, six clearances and seven inside 50s).
Jack Graham kicked three first quarter goals, and while the goals dried up after quarter time, Grahma still finished with 20 disposals, eight tackles and four marks in what was a solid effort. Toby Nankervis enjoyed a solid duel with Trengove in the ruck and perhaps was the better of the two by a small margin (21 disposals, 25 hitouts, seven marks and one goal) and Bachar Houli (21 disposals, six marks and four rebound 50s) was solid across half-back.
So as Richmond enter the business end of their quest for back-to-back flags, the Bulldogs will find themselves sitting out September for another year. However, there is plenty of reason for optimism if the last month of footy is anything to go by. I can sense that this will be an off-season of change, with multiple free agents considering their futures and perhaps maybe another player or two to cross over and try and help this list get back to the promised land.
The home and away season maybe over for the Bulldogs, but there is still an entire off-season to play out before the year is done.