Western Bulldogs 4.5 6.8 9.14 11.16.82 Sydney 1.2 1.5 5.6 9.11.65
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Naughton 3, Gowers 2, Lloyd 2, Richards, Duryea, Schache, Bontempelli
Sydney: Reid 2, Heeney 2, Blakey, Hayward, Mills, Papley, Franklin
Alex Docherty's Best
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Macrae, Naughton, Wood, Liberatore, Hunter, Lloyd Sydney: Lloyd, Sinclair, Kennedy, Parker, McVeigh, Jones
The Western Bulldogs are on the board in 2019. Call it what you may – great win, ugly contest, got of jail or whatever – wins are wins and given what the Bulldogs have gone through over the past 24 months, I'll take whatever win comes our way. A 17-point win over a gallant Sydney side, logging in another thrilling game in the recent history of the two sides.
I'll be frank, it was a funny old game of footy. After Isaac Heeney's massive launch on Bailey Williams' shoulders and then corresponding goal in the opening minute of the game, the Bulldogs flicked the switch and controlled the play from early in the first quarter until half time. The Bulldogs showed incredible pressure whenever they didn't have the football and it resulted in multiple forward 50 entries in the opening term.
Of the 19 inside 50 entries they had in the first term, they got nine scoring shots out of it. Maybe the Dogs should've been up by more than 21 points by the quarter time siren, but the signs were promising. Ed Richards kicked the first goal of the season with a free kick from 20 metres out straight in front. From that moment on, the Dogs dominated the contest. New recruit Taylor Duryea who launched a massive goal from outside 50 and was swamped by his new team mates.
As well as the renewed pressure, the one thing that stood out for me was that the Bulldogs lowered their vision upon their inside 50 entries – particularly in the first half when they were in complete control. Marcus Bontempelli hit a lace-out pass to Billy Gowers in the first quarter, Caleb Daniel found Tory Dickson in the second quarter and there were plenty others. It's a lot more relieving than seeing them just pump the ball long and deep inside 50 with monotonous regularity.
Keeping the Swans to just one goal came down to a few things. The pressure caused the Swans to fumble a lot – more than they have over the past few years – their skills were poor, again you can put this down to the pressure that the Bulldogs laid and when the Swans couldn't get their hands on the ball, they looked more lethargic than not. When it did come down Sydney's forward 50, Easton Wood dominated Lance Franklin in the air and when given opportunities, they just couldn't put them away when they needed to. Josh Kennedy missed a few gettable shots and Sam Reid missed a gimme in the second quarter.
At the other end of the ground, Aaron Naughton had been in control of the air for the most part of the first half. He kicked his second goal in the second term to extend the lead to 27 points. Before half time, Josh Schache was awarded a free kick for a shove out from Lewis Melican. He didn't have a big impact on the night, but he extended the margin beyond five goals. When Billy Gowers got paid a contentious mark early in the third quarter (As Zak Jones looked like he got his hands on the ball as well), the margin got out to a game-high 40 points.
But it's almost as if Sydney were playing the old-fashioned “Rope-a-dope” tactic that has been done in boxing countless times. They picked up the intensity by kicking four of the next six goals to bring it back to 32 points by three quarter time, but you could sense that they were coming. Nick Blakey kicked his first career-goal in AFL footy and every one of his Sydney team mates got around him. The Dogs made some pretty bad turnovers in the defensive 50 which led to Sydney goals, but they were essentially cancelled out by Sam Lloyd's ripper from 50 and a rather soft free that led to Naughton's third of the match.
This 32-point three-quarter time was whittled down quick smart in the final quarter, as goals to Sam Reid, Isaac Heeney and Tom Papley in quick succession turned it into a two goal game. Not long afterwards, it was the debutant Blakey who found Buddy all by himself for his first goal of the evening and the difference was within a kick. It was looking like a process of when the Swans will hit the front and how much they were going to win by - the Bulldogs looked out on their feet.
After Schache missed a golden opportunity to keep the Swans at bay, Franklin missed another opportunity at goal, same as Zak Jones, both would've put the Swans ahead and by reckoning, could've potentially sunk the Bulldogs then and there.
Then cometh the moment. As the Bulldogs and the Swans fought for the footy in the middle of Marvel Stadium, it was a tackle by Sam Lloyd on George Hewett that spilled the ball out towards Toby McLean who found Marcus Bontempelli careening down the forward 50. The kick hits him and he strolls into an open goal to put them 10 points ahead. It showed shades of a couple of years ago when he did nearly the same thing against the same Sydney team.
The game was sealed from the next centre bounce as Tim English wins the clearance and after a bit of scramble for the footy inside 50, it was the ex-Tiger Lloyd who slammed home the exclamation mark. They looked gone for all money after leading by as much as 40 points, but they found that extra gear when they needed to. It sets them up for 2019 the right way, but there's still plenty of work that needs to be done as the season goes on, as a big game with fellow round one winners Hawthorn looms next week.
Leading The Way
I thought Marcus Bontempelli was best on ground for mine. His work around the stoppages was as good as it has ever been. His ball use by foot at times was gold-standard and if you needed a reason why he should play as a midfielder permanently, watch the replay of last night. The Bont recorded 29 disposals, seven tackles, six inside 50s, five marks and one goal, it could've easily been two or three, but both of them were very near misses. Overall, a very outstanding job from the Bont.
Jack Macrae (32 disposals, five inside 50s and four clearances) was again industrious in the middle. He does his job with such minimal fuss and he does the job well. Tom Liberatore also starred in his first game back from a long-term knee injury. He recorded 28 disposals, eight clearances and eight inside 50s in a strong showing. What I love the most about Libba is that he isn't afraid to dish out sledges to the opposition. I saw him give out some friendly advice to the likes of Tom Papley, Jake Lloyd and there would've been one or two others I'm sure.
Sam Lloyd's first official game in Bulldogs colours was worth noting (22 disposals, two goals, three tackles and three inside 50s). He's fitted in seamlessly at the Bulldogs so far since crossing over at the end of 2018. Aaron Naughton's move from defence to forward paid off massively, with three goals from 15 disposals and five marks inside 50 (six in total), with three of those five marks inside 50 contested grabs – he actually looks like a natural marking forward, and that's a huge positive as the Bulldogs look for an answer to their scoring woes.
Considered Easton Wood too for best on ground, as he absolutely outplayed Lance Franklin all game long and defensively, he had a huge hand in keeping Sydney to just one goal in the first half. I think everyone knows that Buddy went in that game underdone, but the way Wood beat him consistently in one on ones was outstanding, considering the size difference of the two.
The Opposition
As the Bulldogs pressed early in the game, I thought Jake Lloyd was the one stand out for the Sydney team. He led all players in disposals (35), rebound 50s (nine) and marks (10). I thought between him and Jarrad McVeigh, who had 22 touches and seven rebound 50s, they kept Sydney in the contest – god knows what could've been if they weren't playing.
Callum Sinclair dominated Tim English in the ruck, recording 44 hitouts, as well as 11 disposals, six marks and five tackles. I actually thought English was okay on the night, but he's going to come up against ruckmen who have been playing at this level for a good number of years. Nonetheless, I thought Sinclair controlled the ruck duel for large parts of this game. Josh Kennedy (22 disposals, seven clearances and seven tackles) and Luke Parker (22 disposals, six clearances and seven tackles) had typically great games in the middle.
With Franklin nullified, I thought that Tom Papley was their most threatening forward of the night (19 disposals, one goal, six marks and six tackles), but aside from Sam Reid, they needed more from their younger players. Jordan Dawson didn't do much, Ollie Florent was hardly sighted and likewise Will Hayward sans a third quarter cameo where he kicked a goal.