Western Bulldogs 3.2 5.2 8.3 10.6.66 Port Adelaide 1.2 2.5 5.8 5.11.41
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Schache 3, Dickson 2, Lipinski 2, Suckling, R. Smith, Macrae Port Adelaide: Dixon 2, Ladhams, R. Gray, Rozee
Alex Docherty’s Best
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Macrae, Schache, Dunkley, B. Smith, R. Smith, Johannisen Port Adelaide: Boak, Lycett, Hartlett, Byrne-Jones, Rozee, Dixon
Firstly, I must apologise for no match preview this week, as I have had my hands full with other commitments during the week and it was beyond impossible to get a preview out for this weekend.
Having said that, I didn’t give the Bulldogs an inkling against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night. Their record in Adelaide alone is horrendous, having just won once in six meetings at the Adelaide Oval prior to Saturday night. Add to the fact that this Power side just toppled Geelong at the same venue seven days before, it was looking very ominous for Port Adelaide in the lead up to this encounter.
But, as the rain bucketed down in the city of Adelaide, things were made very interesting to say the least. The respective gameplans of each side were thrown out the window and we got ourselves a good ol’ fashioned scrap. It started well enough for the Power as Charlie Dixon – who has tormented the Bulldogs in previous encounters – got off to a great start as he powered through for the first of the evening, looking like it was going to be a procession of how much in the early going.
However, the Bulldogs must have had a different script in their hands, as they controlled the play and never relinquished the lead from the moment Tory Dickson and Matthew Suckling kicked their respective goals. This game was going to be all about who could’ve adapted to the wet weather the fastest and the best. Last year the Bulldogs had a game in the wet that they made a right meal out of – they only got two goals that night, but by quarter time, they had themselves three and were on top of their opposition.
Consistency had been an issue with the Western Bulldogs all year long, but I feel this was arguably their most complete performance this year. They won three of the four quarters, and the one that they lost, was only by a couple of points and it came at a time where the Dogs were challenged and challenged hard by Port.
After kicking a further two goals in the second term to bump the lead up from 12 points at quarter time to 17 at the half time break, Port Adelaide put in the first two goals of the third quarter to bring them within two points of the Dogs. But the Sons of the West held firm and piled on the next three of their own to put that breathing distance that had been there for the entire first half back in play.
I probably couldn’t have said it a month or so ago – there has always been one quarter of footy that the Bulldogs had no answers or response to their opposition when they got their way, but they found a response in that third quarter, and I think that is the one thing that I am most pleased about. I also found myself pretty pleased with the fourth quarter, there were moments that Port could’ve – and perhaps should’ve – got within striking distance.
But two goals were only kicked in the final quarter and both were Bulldog goals. Patrick Lipinski continued his fine form in 2019 with a second major to put the result beyond doubt. This was followed shortly afterwards by Tory Dickson slotting home a nice shot from long range on a difficult angle. There was heat on this side a week ago for shooting themselves out of the game against Collingwood, but to kick 10.6 in shocking conditions is a response and a half.
Leading The Way
One man set the scene for the Bulldogs in the opening quarter and that man was Marcus Bontempelli. On a night where the conditions made it so hard to take control of the football, The Bont picked up and used the footy like he was back under the roof of Marvel Stadium. He was the most influential player on the ground at quarter time and by full time, he had himself 27 disposals, nine clearances, 10 tackles and seven inside 50s in a stellar performance in the middle.
He had plenty of mates in the middle. Jack Macrae (36 disposals, six clearances, six tackles, five marks, four rebound 50s and a goal) was again prolific in the guts, whilst Josh Dunkley backed up a career game last Sunday with another impressive game (29 disposals, four clearances, five marks, seven rebound 50s and seven tackles). Josh Schache backed up his three goal game last week with an impressive bag of three in the pouring rain.
The Bulldogs applied plenty of tackling pressure on the night, laying over 30 more tackles than the Power. First-year player Bailey Smith was one of a few that set the pace with his tackling on Saturday night, laying a personal-best 14 tackles, to go along with 23 disposals, five clearances and three inside 50s. Between him, Bontempelli, Dunkley, Macrae, Ed Richards, Caleb Daniel, Aaron Naughton, Sam Lloyd and Patrick Lipinski – the nine combined for 74 of the Bulldogs’ 109 tackles.
Another man that deserves some praise is Roarke Smith. I read a lot of comments in the Bulldogs’ forums and he gets more than his fair share of slack – I thought Saturday night was the best game he has ever played. 23 disposals at 70 percent efficiency. He also had six tackles and kicked a very impressive snap around the body in the second term. It’s so good to see him play well, especially since he has come back from two knee reconstructions in the past.
The Opposition
Port Adelaide are as hard a side to dissect than anyone else in the league right now. Not quite sure how they can go from beating a side as highly-touted as Geelong to losing to a team they were expected to beat. Needless to say that there weren’t many players that stood up for the Power, whereas the Bulldogs had quite a few. Suffice to say that Ollie Wines (12 disposals), Steven Motlop (16 disposals) and Brad Ebert (13 disposals) needed to be better.
One guy who has been flying all year round so far is the former captain Travis Boak. Statistically, he’s having a career-best year, and on Saturday, he continued his fine form, with 32 disposals, 10 clearances, five tackles and four inside 50s – this making it 11 games this season he has recorded 30 disposals or more. Along with Scott Lycett (21 disposals, 46 hitouts, nine tackles and four clearances), who had the better of Tim English, these two were Port Adelaide’s most influential players on the night.
Hamish Hartlett (29 disposals, seven marks, seven rebound 50s and six inside 50s) was industrious across half-back. I thought Darcy Byrne-Jones (26 disposals, five inside 50s and four marks) had one of his better games in his career. Charlie Dixon (2.2 from 15 disposals and two tackles) and Connor Rozee (12 disposals, five marks, six tackles and 1.2) were Port’s most dangerous forwards all night.