Western Bulldogs 3.3 6.5 7.13 10.14.74 Melbourne 3.2 6.4 7.7 9.12.66
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Dunkley 2, R.Smith 2, Lloyd 2, Richards, Schache, Hunter, B.Smith
Melbourne: Petty 3, Fritsch 2, Hunt, Lewis, Petracca, Dunkley
Alex Docherty’s Best
Western Bulldogs: Dunkley, Duryea, Hunter, Macrae, Crozier, Lloyd, Bontempelli Melbourne: Gawn, May, Viney, Petty, Salem, Harmes
I don’t know how many more of these close games I can take this season. It wasn’t pretty by all means, but the Bulldogs found a way to win game number eight of the season and three in a row for the first time in 2019, overcoming a plucky Melbourne outfit by eight points under the Marvel Stadium roof on a miserable Sunday afternoon in Melbourne.
It has been a very miserable season for the Demons full stop in 2019, having just won five games in 16 starts after making the last four in 2018. Regardless on what excuses they have, I think they need some credit for what was a hard-fought game. I think they would’ve known heading into a game like this – against a side still battling for a spot in September that they can upset a few sides. They didn’t stop trying all afternoon long.
After a goal from Jayden Hunt kicked off proceedings for the Demons, the Dogs kicked three in a row to take an early lead in the opening term before clever openings from Jordan Lewis and Christian Petracca kept the Demons to within a point by quarter time. The Dogs again tailed away to an early advantage in the second quarter with a pair of goals by Sam Lloyd – one taking advantage from a free kick and the other a clever bit of play where he kept the ball alive on the goal-line to slam it home.
This gave the Dogs another two-goal buffer before things started heading a little South for the red, white and blues. It started with them being reduced to two men on the bench for a large portion of the second quarter. Toby McLean injured his hamstring and did not return, but the bigger blow was seeing Marcus Bontempelli hobbling to bench after having rolled his ankle. Whilst he was getting worked on in the rooms, Melbourne took control of the contest, kicking the next three goals to take the lead late in the first half.
The umpires certainly did their bit to influence the contest, they called a few shockers both ways, but the Dogs responded to what was looking like a very sturdy Melbourne challenge, albeit it was a very poor free kick against Max Gawn to Josh Dunkley in a ruck contest, which led to him kicking truly to tie the scores up before a Lachie Hunter behind gave them the lead at half time. They got the best news at half time that Bontempelli was ready to go for the second half, but what influence he was going to have on the game was anyone’s guess, considering he had a pretty ordinary first half before going down.
Bont’s return breathed the Bulldogs back to life as they took the momentum of the contest by the horns. They had over 20 more disposals, were +10 in contested possessions, out-tackled them by nine and had eight more inside 50s. Unfortunately, not an unfamiliar sight this year, they couldn’t make the most of their opportunities, kicking 1.8 out of all that, which is simply not good enough. Easy misses from Josh Schache, Bontempelli, Lloyd, Tim English and a Jack Macrae snap that hit the post got unbearable with each point.
Never thought I’d say thank heavens for Roarke Smith, who slotted home his second major of the day. It came after Melbourne found their way inside 50 for the first time in the second half to result in a goal. I hate that aspect about football, but what can you do? By three quarter time, despite leading by six points, I’m thinking that they’ve thrown this game away, continuing the trend of making a meal out of the winnable games.
It was heading that way when Bayley Fritsch goaled in the opening couple of minutes in the final term to tie the scores again. After the Dogs were let off by Petracca missing an easy shot to goal, they kicked the next three goals to essentially seal the result. But even then, they made hard work of it. Josh Dunkley gave the Dogs back the lead with his second goal, followed by a beauty of a goal by Hunter and a delightful running goal from Bailey Smith.
After Smith’s goal, the Demons made one last push. They got another one from Fritsch, it should’ve been two after he was paid a free kick inside 50, but instead of going back for the set shot, he played on hooked his kick right. The Dogs held on from there. It was scrappy, it was ugly at times, but these are the wins that can install confidence to any side, and they’ll take it heading into another winnable game against the Saints next week.
Leading The Way
Joshua Dunkley take a bow lad. He’s piecing together a very fine year in the middle. 39 disposals, 24 of those contested (Career-high) along with 15 tackles (Had his tackle on Brayshaw last night on repeat for a good hour), nine clearances, six marks and two goals. It was just about the perfect midfielders game, and dare I say he’ll get the three Brownlow votes come that night. He was everywhere, did everything right and was arguably the difference in the game. Without him, I don’t know if the Dogs would’ve got up.
He had his mates in the middle. Jack Macrae (30 disposals, six tackles, four inside 50s and four marks) was again at his best, Lachie Hunter made an impact and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty (37 disposals, 10 marks, five tackles, four inside 50s and one goal) – I’d love to see more of him tackling and winning contested ball. I’ll also give massive props to Marcus Bontempelli for his second half. It’s not easy coming back from a rolled ankle, but he battled on and won some important footy in the middle in the latter stages of that game.
But there’s another player who had himself a career game in amidst the Dunkley madness. Taylor Duryea’s game across half-back was simply outstanding. He had a career-high 31 disposals, was one shy of equaling his career-high in marks, with 13 for the game, along with six rebound 50s and six inside 50s. He’s been a very good find for the Dogs this year, as has Hayden Crozier (19 disposals and eight marks). Sam Lloyd was dangerous again as a forward (17 disposals, six marks and two goals), and I have enjoyed Roarke Smith as a pressure forward, some of his chases on Sunday were outstanding and kicked two very nice goals at times when they were hard to come by.
Side note, I’d love to see more of this Footscray jumper in the future. It looked very nice on the players.
The Opposition
As I roll through Melbourne’s stat sheet, there were quite a few players that have been down on input. The most damning here include Michael Hibberd having on 11 disposals, he was an All Australian two seasons ago, Angus Brayshaw having 12 disposals – he finished in the top three in the Brownlow last year – I’m a Mitch Hannan fan, but he had only 3 touches in 78 percent game time and Clayton Oliver had eight clearances, but had just 17 disposals, where he usually averages 30 a game.
Max Gawn was dominant in the air as expected, and his work around the ground was first-rate as well. 19 disposals, six marks, 34 hitouts, three tackles and five inside 50s. Along with Jack Viney, who had 30 disposals, six clearances, seven tackles and eight inside 50s, and Steven May, who had 16 disposals, four marks, eight rebound 50s and thwarted multiple Bulldog inside 50 entries, were Melbourne’s best players on the day.
I liked Harrison Petty up forward. He’s been somewhat of a revelation this season as a defender with his marking hands, but with no Tom McDonald or Sam Weideman, they needed a target up forward and Braydon Preuss was menacing at times, he struggled for large portions of the game. Petty didn’t, he kicked his first three goals in AFL football, along with 10 disposals, and five marks. Been a good find for them this year. Also props to Christian Salem (25 disposals and five rebound 50s) and James Harmes (22 disposals, five clearances and six tackles) – both men didn’t stop trying all game long.