I'm not going to beat around the bush here. From this Bulldogs’ supporters point of view, this was an absolutely disappointing result to say the least.
The question is: what does it stem down to? Does it come down to how methodical Collingwood were around the ground, or does it come down to just how poor the Bulldogs were overall?
As I write this down, I don’t know if it is one without the other. The Pies had winners all over the ground, and as a result, the Dogs were shut down from the kind of game that they wanted to play. Flip the coin, and it’s the Bulldogs’ horrific use of the footy and shocking decision making that enabled the Pies to play the way they wanted to for all bar six or seven minutes in the second term.
I was hot on lamenting the struggles of the Dogs to my pals at the A3 Footy Podcast - bless them for putting up with me through such a dire time.
It starts by getting your hands to the footy. Brodie Grundy has been one of the best ruckmen in the game for the past few years now and last year - not once, but twice - he exposed Tim English’s lack of experience and a body that is still on its way to growing into a body that will compete. Unfortunately, Friday night's game showed that Tim English has got a ways to go.
Grundy had his way in both the hitouts and around the ground and was unquestionably the best man on the ground because of this. - you can almost pencil in the three votes everytime the Pies play the Bulldogs. Grundy’s work in the air made sure the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Taylor Adams and Jordan De Goey - whenever he went into the middle - to get first use of the footy. When he wasn’t dominating in the air, he was causing problems up forward - he kicked 1.3 when he really should’ve put three or four away and further cement his dominance on this game.
Further adding the pain, the fact that 14 inside 50s to two in the opening quarter paints a big picture - a picture of joy if you’re a Pies supporter and a picture of suffering if you’re a Bulldogs fan. By half time, that count was 25-8 in favour of the Pies. Plain and simple - it’s not good enough for a team that blew sides off the park in the tail-end of 2019 and were expected to contend from the get-go in 2020. By full-time, the Pies were +20 in the inside 50 count, as well as +71 in disposals, +13 in clearances and +30 in contested ball - if that’s not the signs of a smacking, then I don’t know what.
I must give credit where it’s due to Collingwood, their midfield set up was elite, first to the football so often and that made the Bulldogs’ midfield group look incredibly second-rate, which is thoroughly disappointing because they are not as bad as that. It starts with the captain - Marcus Bontempelli. Those that check in with me regularly will know that I love him to bits, but gee whiz, he struggled to get his hands on the footy and when he got it, he couldn’t do a whole lot with it.
Josh Dunkley is in the same boat: Have been in love with his ability in the contested spaces for the largest part of the past 18 months, but he couldn’t get near it for the most part of the night. For me Jack Macrae and Bailey Smith were the best ball-winners for the Bulldogs, but when you compare them with Adams, Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom on the other end, then the difference of impact is miles apart.
When the Bulldogs had their moments of moving the ball up the ground and towards the forward 50, the entries were predictable for the likes of Jeremy Howe, who was outstanding as an intercept defender, he’s been doing it for a few years now, so this is almost like another day in the office. Darcy Moore keeping Aaron Naughton to two touches is a good scalp to take early in the season - made easier because most of the Bulldogs’ forward entries were pure rubbish and perhaps Naughton’s limited pre-season also played a factor as well.
Whilst we’re talking other players that shined for the Pies, Chris Mayne looked busy, but I didn’t expect him to lead all players in disposals, with 29 for the game, Brody Mihocek was the most dangerous forward for the Pies and his three goals on the night will mount a strong case for that. Josh Daicos looked lively for the Pies and I thought Tyler Brown on debut did some very nice things when he had the ball in hand - he looks a very likely lad.
So back to the Bulldogs, I had some pretty critical things to say about the likes of Lachie Hunter, Sam Lloyd, Matt Suckling and Zaine Cordy throughout the game - as some of the more senior heads of the team, they must be better than what they put out on Friday night, but I’ll say the following about the four here:
Hunter needs to compose himself a bit more, because he suffers in his shorts whenever someone is about to come into contact with him, has to be more tougher. Lloyd just had one of those nights where nothing went right for him, from dropping sitters to shocking decision making. Suckling's physicality was inept, but his skills were alright and Cordy has to look at his decision-making skills during the week - not sure why he’s even taking kick-in duties in the first place, where there are over a dozen other players that are better off for it.
If we’re looking for positives for the Bulldogs, I thought Alex Keath in his Bulldogs’ debut looked very nice across half-back. As a matter of fact, most of the backs were good on a night where they were in dire straits for the most part, but Keath’s ability to float in and take intercept marks were first class. Hayden Crozier continues to provide both run and drive off half-back and actually defend - I do like him a lot, whilst Easton Wood nearly looked like a rejuvenated man since relinquishing the captaincy end of last year. His intercept marking drew comparisons of his 2015 year.
Jason Johannisen’s urgency to want to try and run the ball up the middle in the second quarter was something I applauded - at least someone wanted to try and take the damn game on, as opposed to kicking it sideways and backways and eventually stuffing it up. Caleb Daniel tried hard, but I think the experiment with him at half-back has got to stop. For someone his size, he gets exposed very easily and I think using his composure as a half-forward/midfielder is more the go.
Finally - Ben Cavarra. Pleased to see him make his debut after working his backside off for years in the VFL and see him miss so much football last year with numerous injuries. He only had the three touches and the one tackle, but he did kick his first career goal in the second term and I wouldn’t mind seeing what his pressure rating would’ve read - I thought his ability to harass was pretty good given how dominant Collingwood’s back six were. I must see him in the 22 next week.
So, Carlton next week. I am already having PTSD flashbacks from round five last year, where they toweled us by nearly 50 points, so I’m already worried. They can’t be any worse than this week can they?
Western Bulldogs 1.0 4.0 5.2 5.4.34 Collingwood 5.2 8.6 10.7 13.8.86
Goals
Western Bulldogs: Wallis, Williams, Cavarra, Suckling, Bruce Collingwood: Mihocek 3, Cox 2, Daicos 2, Elliott, Hoskin-Elliott, Grundy, C. Brown, De Goey, Adams
Alex Docherty’s Best Players
Western Bulldogs: Keath, Macrae, Smith, Crozier, Johannisen, Daniel Collingwood: Grundy, Adams, Howe, Pendlebury, Mihocek, Mayne, Sidebottom