Western Bulldogs 3.3 4.10 6.12 7.15.57 Carlton 5.3 8.5 11.6 15.11.101
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Dickson 2, Lloyd 2, McLean, Liberatore, Gowers Carlton: McKay 4, Casboult 3, Dow, Murphy, Gibbons, Silvagni, McGovern, Petrevski-Seton, Fisher, Walsh
Alex Docherty's Best
Western Bulldogs: Johannisen, Daniel, English, Crozier, Bontempelli, Smith
Carlton: McKay, Petrevski-Seton, Cripps, Fisher, Walsh, Murphy, Newman
First and foremost – congratulations to Carlton for their first win of the 2019 season and well done for finally cracking a score over 100. The last time they did that was midway through the 2016 season. They'd been working towards a winning result in the opening month of the season and sooner or later it was going to come. Genuinely, I believe this side is in the right direction under Brendan Bolton and have firmly believed that from day one. A big 44-point win is a step in the right direction – I'll get to their players a bit more down the piece.
Now onto the Bulldogs. I have been a supporter of this club for over 20 years now. I've seen some games that I'd would rather like to forget – this one undoubtedly is up there. I would've been fine if they had lost by a couple of kicks – I really would – but the manner that this team showed on Easter Sunday was inexcusable and downright pathetic. There are so many things that were wrong with this team in this particular game – I couldn't believe what was unfolding before my very eyes.
Let's start with the team selection. Now, I was a little sceptical about playing a small defence with the likes of Zaine Cordy, who is about 191 centimetres, as our tallest defender before round one. Carlton had Harry McKay and Levi Casboult – both of whom are around 2 metres tall. Both men did as they please, combining for seven of Carlton 15 goals and could've easily had more. Where is Fletcher Roberts? Where is Jackson Trengove? The proof was in the pudding Sunday – enough of playing an undersized defence and enough of seeing Caleb Daniel match up on behemoths like McKay - It's not working.
I have to talk about our midfield. They were absolutely obliterated from the opening bounce. Clearances overall were 42-26 in favour of Carlton. In the first half, the differencial was something absurd, like Carlton were up by 12 or 13 in the clearances. You didn't even need to read the stats, you just had to watch the game and you could see that Carlton were the better side in the middle. Why start Tom Liberatore forward in the first half? Why start Jack Macrae up forward in the second half? Why are Bailey Williams and Billy Gowers playing midfield? Why isn't Josh Dunkley playing more midfield minutes?
On to the general play. WAY too many times were the Bulldogs caught out when they turned the ball over – unsurprisingly – and there was, more often than not, a loose Carlton player on the overlap when they ran forward. The vast majority of the time was chasing navy blue tail. There were some passages of play that looked good to watch, but a majority of it was slow and the excessive handballing, it was extremely painful to see one handball too many result in a turnover, which led to a Carlton score more often than not.
Ball movement forward of centre has been a complete disaster. It has been the case for two long seasons, and this goal kicking issue is still here, it's like a bad smell. Get the players to do some goal kicking practice this week and every other week until the end of the year. He wasn't the only one, but to see Toby McLean butcher an opportunity from 30 metres out with no angle to speak of, and then watch a man like Levi Casboult dob a shot from the boundary line from 45 metres is a genuine piss take and bordering on insulting.
When you compare the side today, to the one that played in the opening two weeks, this is a team that looks bereft of everything – confidence, skills and a game plan. Luke Beveridge – I respect the man and love what he's done since he's come into the club, but there are going to be questions asked about his decisions to play undersized defenders, playing players out of preferred positions among other things. The heat is well and truly on now after this performance.
I'm not trying to take anything away from Carlton, but the effort that was dished up was remarkably poor and the supporters have a right to know why this is the case – they forked out hard-earned dollars to watch a team of 22 professional players play the game we all know and love – not less than a quarter of the team. There wouldn't be many players that deserve their paycheck after this weekend – they were that horrible. How can a performance like this be defended? The answer is simple – it can't be. Leading The Way
So what positives can I take out of this game? Aside from watching a bloke on the oblivious cam demolish a meat pie and a young lady potentially be the solution to our goal kicking issues, there really isn't much I can take out of this game. I thought the debutants were okay. They were slow early and made their mistakes, but they weren't the worst players on the ground by full time. Will Hayes had 21 disposals and got better as the game wore on, Lachie Young took a nice grab and will be better for the experience... I hope.
Jason Johannisen looked threatening across from half-back (26 disposals, five rebound 50s), likewise Caleb Daniel, who had a team-high 31 disposals and six rebound 50s. Both men didn't stop trying, but like most of the side, they were sloppy by foot at times. Daniel messed a kick up in the third quarter that led to Sam Petrevski-Seton goaling late in the third term – that hurt a lot as the Dogs were working their way back from a 30-point buffer earlier in the piece.
Also props to Tim English for shouldering a lot of the ruck load this week and actually beating Matthew Kreuzer in the hitouts 28-25. Especially after what would've been a rough week, copping criticisms for his ruck duel with Brodie Grundy. His work around the ground was good – 13 disposals, seven tackles, five marks, including a beauty in the second half. I feel like he's starting to get better with every game, at the risk of sounding like a broken record.
Bailey Smith (18 disposals, six inside 50s) tried hard. I loved how he got stuck into the Blues early on in the game and possesses that kind of attitude that will go far in footy. Marcus Bontempelli (24 disposals, seven clearances and seven inside 50s) was okay, but in the battle against Patrick Cripps, he was second best by a fair margin, whilst Hayden Crozier (18 disposals, eight marks and five rebound 50s was the best defender for mine.
The Opposition
Where do we begin with Carlton? Their mids were remarkable – we know Patrick Cripps is a top five player of the competition and he proved it again today with a cracking performance – 37 disposals and 11 clearances is a day out, and he was running riot in the first half. I haven't been able to say this much about the Blues, but he had help. Sam Petrevski-Seton played his best game so far in his career – notching up 35 disposals, seven clearances, seven marks and one goal. Zac Fisher (28 disposals, seven clearances, five inside 50s and one goal) was also prolific.
Was this Harry McKay's breakout game? Or was it just him benefitting from an undersized Bulldogs backline? Whatever you might say there, it was hard to acknowledge his impact on the game Sunday. 20 disposals, 11 marks and 4.3 the end total. He worked hard up the ground and he was able to take a few good contested grabs. He was best on for me, with both Cripps and Petrevski-Seton close behind.
I could probably keep going on and on about Carlton's better players. Marc Murphy (28 disposals, six marks and a goal) was very good. Kade Simpson (20 disposals, eight rebound 50s and six tackles) and Nic Newman (21 disposals, 10 rebound 50s and nine marks) provided solid run from the defence. I'll also commend Liam Jones for nullifying the influence of Aaron Naughton – getting stuck into him at every opportunity. And Sam Walsh (26 disposals, nine marks, four tackles and a goal) he just plays like a 200-game veteran and it's only his fourth career game – he's going to be special.
Judging from this game alone, Carlton's future is looking a lot brighter than ours at the moment. To the coaches and the players of the Western Bulldogs – the onus is on you to bounce back from this abomination and bring some mongrel, bring some fight – and for god's sake – some kicking boots to Fremantle in Perth next week.