Western Bulldogs 2.5 6.7 12.8 15.9.99
Richmond 3.2 4.6 7.7 7.10.52
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Naughton 5, Bontempelli 3, Gowers 2, McLean, Lloyd, Smith, Johannisen, Richards
Richmond: Stack, Baker, Ross, Caddy, McIntosh, Houli, Balta
Alex Docherty's Best
Western Bulldogs: Naughton, Bontempelli, Dunkley, Macrae, Crozier, Daniel, English
Richmond: Baker, Stack, Vlastuin, Prestia, Lambert, Ross
Well, who saw this result coming? Not just that, but who saw the manner that the Western Bulldogs conducted themselves coming? I can put my hand up and say I definitely was not expecting this.
Facing a four-game losing streak heading into Saturday night, the Bulldogs were outsiders against a Richmond side that has managed to pull off victories, despite an injury-plagued list. However, it was a very convincing 47-point win to the Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.
Having been widely criticised for their inability to hit the scoresheet – having kicked more goals than behinds just once leading up to this encounter. It was looking like another dreadful night in the office after the first 30 minutes of play. After Marcus Bontempelli slotted home a set shot from a difficult angle, it became a tune that sounded very similar to that of the past month.
Easy misses to Jason Johannisen, Aaron Naughton and Sam Lloyd hurt the Dogs early, and the Tigers made them pay for it, running out to an early lead. Things started to pick up after Lloyd made amends for his poor miss earlier in the term to reduce the margin to less than a kick before quarter time. From there it became all Bulldogs in what is unquestionably the best four-quarter effort overall.
It started – and ended – with the Aaron Naughton show at full forward. He has been questioned in recent weeks whether or not his move from full back to the other end of the ground was going to pay off. His first quarter was promising – such a shame he didn't kick any goals for the term. He made up for it though with a dominant opening eight minutes in the second quarter, kicking three of the Bulldogs' four second term goals to open up a handy 21-point lead.
During this time, he took three contested grabs which lead to his first three goals – each grab better than the previous. The third grab was a mighty leap over a group of players, and by that point, Richmond just couldn't stop him. Damien Hardwick said it best in his post-match press conference that “Not even Jesus Christ could stop him”. Without sounding bias here, he might have been right.
After his third goal, the bleeding stopped momentarily and the Tigers began to wrest control back in their favour. But all they could muster was one goal for the second term – courtesy of a soft free kick to Bachar Houli and faced a 13-point half-time deficit, plus a massive problem in the form of the second-year teenager Naughton. There were no answers to be found in the second half as the Bulldogs kicked six goals in the premiership quarter to Richmond's three to make it a tough margin to come back from.
The cream on what was a very tasty cake on Saturday night was the fact that the Bulldogs held the Tigers goal less in the final quarter, whilst the Bulldogs kicked a further three goals themselves. The door was slammed shut in the opening minutes when Ed Richards baulked around a Richmond player and then from 45 metres out belted one through at half goal post height.
A 47-point win over Richmond is a bloody good feeling – particularly when the supporters have been subjected to poor showings over the past month. But has this game got the Bulldogs back on track? The next month is going to be huge for them. Next week is Brisbane in Ballarat – followed by Geelong in Geelong, North Melbourne and West Coast in Perth. Brisbane and North are winnable, Geelong are looking like the flag favourites and West Coast could be anything in a month's time.
Leading The Way
I could write a 1000 word essay on why I loved Aaron Naughton's game, but I'll keep it brief here. Any notion about him being unable to play as a key forward should be erased after Saturday night. 16 disposals, 14 marks – nine of those contested – and 5.3, which is a career high. Naughton's nine contested marks sit equal-second in league history for contested marks in a game. He joins some pretty elite company – think names like Matthew Richardson, Barry Hall and Matthew Lloyd – and he's only 19 years of age. How bloody scary is that?
Marcus Bontempelli was a not-so-distant second in the best on ground sweepstakes. Floating between midfield and forward, the Bont was back to his brilliant best and can seriously stake a claim as a top-five player in this competition by season's end. He recorded 27 disposals, nine marks, seven clearances and most importantly, three goals straight. His kicking boots were on Saturday. Whether or not he keeps them on for the duration of the season will be a different story.
There were plenty of players here that deserve a mention. Three players recorded 30 touches or more. Josh Dunkley (35 disposals, eight marks, eight tackles, five clearances and five inside 50s) was at his absolute best – See what happens when you play him as a midfielder and not a forward? Caleb Daniel (36 disposals, 10 rebound 50s and six tackles) was again brilliant at half back and Jack Macrae (36 disposals) looked like he was back in form.
I'll also touch on Tim English again, who broke even in the hitouts with Toby Nankervis, who is a pretty established ruckman in the competition – both men recorded 26 hitouts each. However, it was English (17 disposals, seven marks and three clearances) who got the better of Nankervis around the ground. Hayden Crozier (28 disposals, nine marks and five rebound 50s) is piecing together a fine year and is arguably the most underrated player in this team right now, whilst Jackson Trengove's game on Tom Lynch is worth noting as well, keeping him goal less for the first time in Richmond colours.
The Opposition
Without trying to sound too negative of them, a lot of Richmond's senior players were very disappointing. Lynch was just mentioned, Dylan Grimes had his colours lowered, Josh Caddy was hardly sighted after quarter time. Daniel Rioli played hurt for most of the game, Shane Edwards hardly saw it and Dustin Martin led the team in disposals, but made very little impact on the contest.Very worrying when your best players are your young boys.
Sydney Stack has been much talked about in recent weeks. And with good reason, he's been doing a lot right with his footy. He attacks the contest every time and his use of the ball has been excellent. Stack recorded 19 disposals, seven marks, four tackles and kicked a goal. Liam Baker is another player I really liked on Saturday night. He has a real future in the game – his pressure outstanding and he was by far, the most threatening forward. He had 18 disposals, one goal, six marks and six tackles on the night.
Jack Ross was another that I thought has stood out positively for the Tigers in the past month. He's held his own in contested situations and has had no problems finding the ball and using it well. He finished with 15 disposals, four clearances, five inside 50s and a goal. Of the experienced players, Kane Lambert (23 disposals, five inside 50s and three rebound 50s) was solid and Nick Vlastuin (21 disposals, eight marks and six rebound 50s) battled hard in defence.