This week, I’ve opted to do something different and do a collaboration of the match preview and the match review.
On Thursday, my good mate and co-host of the A3 Footy Podcast Alex Catalano, along with myself offered up our thoughts from the eyes of both from a Bombers supporter and a Bulldogs supporter. This morning, the both of us share our thoughts on what was a very good night for the Western Bulldogs and a poor night for Cat’s Bombers.
We hope you enjoyed the preview, because now we’ve got our reviews for you below.
Who Was The Match Winner?
Western Bulldogs: It’s hard to look past Tim English as the match winner last night. Last week he was soundly beat in the hitouts by Carlton’s Marc Pittonet. But you have to give credit to Tim English for how he bounced back this week. He lost out to Andrew Phillips in the hitouts, but it was only 28-17 in favour of the Essendon big man. Furthermore, a lot of English’s hitouts favoured the Western Bulldogs’ midfielders this week as opposed to last week. The clearance count was 21-8 at half time and by full time it was 31-23, the Dogs were dominant in the first half and had the game sewn up by three quarter time. Jack Macrae, Bailey Smith, Tom Liberatore and Marcus Bontempelli were all dominant in the middle and English played a strong role in enabling them to have the games they did.
Also, must make mention of his contested work around the ground. 17 of his 22 disposals were contested possessions, he had six clearances and his contested marking has been as good as it’s ever been - four of his seven marks were contested. I’ve heard Scott Wynd comparisons from the Bulldogs’ faithful, and whilst his best footy was before my time, the man did win a Brownlow by playing some great footy around the ground. No, this isn’t me saying that English will win one - this is just me saying that English will be as every bit of good as the pundits were saying in the lead up to the 2016 AFL Draft.
Essendon: The first half was competitive for the Bombers, rebounding well out of the backline through the elite pace of Adam Saad, as well as the intercepting and precision kicking of Jordan Ridley. Ridley and Michael Hurley registered 12 marks between them, with Saad disposing of the footy at an 100% efficiency. They managed to capitalise well from wasteful inside 50 entries and missed shots on goal from the Bulldogs, with constant wayward kicks finding their way onto the chests of the Bombers’ back six.
What Could’ve Been Done Better
Western Bulldogs: Defensively, The Dogs found themselves vulnerable in patches the same way Carlton caught them out last week. Fortunately, the Dons missed some gettable set shots that would’ve really put the Dogs to the sword early. But they found that perfect balance - they kept Essendon to four goals in the opening three quarters - three of them came in the first term. The last quarter they seemingly put the cue in the rack as they reverted back to sloppy defending, particularly late in the final quarter.
Ideally, I would’ve loved to see them put the foot to the pedal the same way they did to the Bombers last year. But they looked like they were getting a bit fatigued towards the end of the game. It can be forgiveable. They busted their backsides off in the second quarter for little return and then came out of the rooms after half time and blew the Bombers away with some of their best footy.
Essendon: In the middle, however, the Dons’ midfield group was more than lacklustre in the absence of Dylan Shiel, losing the clearance count 21 to 8 and the inside 50s 25 to 18 in the first half. By the end it was 31-23 and inside 50s were 48-43 against the Dons. They were also smashed in the contested ball: 128-93 in favour of the Bulldogs, which is a worry. Entries into the forward line found the turf more than the players, despite doing well at ground level in the first term. David Zaharakis notched up nine disposals in the first quarter, playing mostly as a half forward, before recording only two more in the second - his impact waned massively after quarter time.
The disparity in the middle became even more evident as the Dogs’ opened the floodgates after half time, kicking 5.3 to Essendon's three points in the third term. This was off the back of dominant work around the contest by Marcus Bontempelli, Tim English, Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae. It’s hard to say very much went right for the Bombers in the third at all. The frustration showed, as the Dons gave away plenty of unnecessary free kicks, including a 50 metre penalty from Devon Smith resulting in an easy goal to Laitham Vandermeer.
Most Underrated Performance
Western Bulldogs: In a midfield where the likes of Bontempelli, Bailey Smith and Jack Macrae did what they liked in the middle, Tom Liberatore’s work can go unnoticed and I thought he played a very fine game last night. He had 22 disposals, six tackles, five clearances and an equal team-high eight score involvements. With Liberatore, you know what you’re going to get with him most weeks and last night was no different. He digs in, thrives on the contest and doesn’t take a backwards step.
Essendon: As I mentioned already, the Dons best performers came from the backline. Adam Saad and Jordan Ridley were defensive pillars, with Saad racking up 23 disposals at 87% efficiency, 7 intercept possessions and 6 score involvements was Essendon's best, but Ridley's form early in the year has gone a little unnoticed, but thank god it's starting to get noticed now. Other than that, there weren't too many players I would've highlighted as underrated.
The Opposition Players We Liked
Western Bulldogs: The first Essendon player that springs to mind was Adam Saad. I’ve been long a critic of Saad, stating in years gone by that all he does is run without actually doing major impact with the footy. He had Laitham Vandermeer for much of the game and kept him pretty quiet, which should be a testament to Vandermeer’s form as Saad’s ability to shutdown smalls criminally underrated. He had 23 disposals at 87 percent efficiency, seven intercepts, six score involvements and four inside 50s.
Michael Hurley, Cale Hooker and Jordan Ridley were all very solid and stood up in defence in the first half, especially when the Bulldogs looked like they were capable of really causing mayhem in the second half. The form of both Hurley and Hooker visibly tapered off in the second half, I thought Ridley had a more complete game, when it was against them in the third, he was still working hard, he just had very little assistance. He’s having a good season. Also props to Andrew McGrath in the middle, who I thought worked hard against a star-studded Dogs’ midfield all night.
Essendon: The most influential player for the Bulldogs on the night was undoubtedly Tim English. Despite losing the hit out count to Andrew Phillips, he got the ball down into the hands of his midfielders when it mattered in the third, as well as getting plenty of disposals around the ground. He finished the match with 22 disposals, 16 hit outs, 7 marks (4 contested), 4 tackles, 6 clearances and 8 score involvements.
The whole Dogs midfield group was solid all game, with strong performances from Macrae (29 disposals), Hunter (26 disposals), Bontempelli (23 disposals, 5 clearances, 7 inside 50s) and Liberatore (22 disposals, 5 clearances and 6 tackles). Special mention to debutant Cody Weightman for kicking 2 goals, including an exhilarating boundary line snap for his first AFL goal, and Mitch Wallis for kicking 3 handy snags himself.
The Players That Let Us Down
Western Bulldogs: Josh Bruce’s kicking for goal in that first half was an utter let down. He kicked one early and looked like he was going to be in for a game similar to the one he had against North. But then he kicked two out on the full in the opening term and then missed another easy one in the second term. Probably sums up his year if we’re talking about goal input, he’s been remarkably poor in front of the big sticks in 2020.
Not sure how Lachie Young managed a game in this team - I would’ve rather Rhylee West or Toby McLean - but I’m not the chairman of selectors., he had seven touches, but didn’t do a great deal with them. Also I saw him hesitate to throw himself into a contest, which is probably signs of a young man who isn’t exactly comfortable in his role. If he keeps his spot for Thursday night against the Gold Coast, he’d want to have a better game.
Essendon: In terms of underperformers for the Bombers, I could spray the entire side, but instead I’ll focus on the highest offending few. Jacob Townsend had no where near his usual impact, only touching the footy 4 times and laying 2 tackles, not hitting the scoreboard even once. Considering one of the best parts of the team’s game style over the past few weeks has been tackling pressure, especially in the forward 50, this is simply not good enough. Shaun McKernan took 4 marks, but the ball completely bounced off his hands countless times and he wasteful in front of goals, kicking 3 behinds.
The Wrap Up
Western Bulldogs: Didn’t think I was going to leave out Cody Weightman did you? The Dogs’ first pick in last year’s Draft made a very good start to his AFL career with a good pack mark in the pocket and then an ridiculous banana snap that sailed through half goal-post height. His pressure was good all throughout the night, took another nice grab on the wing and capped off a neat evening with a good crumbing goal in the final quarter. Keep him in for next week.
Also, whilst on the forwards, big ups to Mitch Wallis for his stunning performance up forward - three straight and along with Weightman, looked the Dogs’ most dangerous forwards of the night.
I don’t think I can stress how important the inclusion of Hayden Crozier really is. Statistically, not his finest game, but watching him, Alex Keath, Easton Wood and at time Zaine Cordy spoil every time the ball comes into defensive 50, it’s almost as if the likes of Caleb Daniel and Bailey Williams know exactly where to be as they’re first to the footy all the time.
A lot of the Bombers players were very disappointing. Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti did nothing after quarter time, Jacob Townsend had a nightmare, Devon Smith gave away a few silly free kicks all throughout the night and the likes of Orazio Fantasia and Will Snelling were nowhere to be found for most of the night. They'll want to bounce back next week.
Essendon: The last term was more of the same of what happened in the third quarter, aside from a few junk time goals to the Dons. The second half ended with the Dogs scoring 8.5 to the Dons 3.6.
To say anything went well for the Bombers after the quarter-time break would be challenging. They were dominated in the midfield, bled goals in the backline and couldn’t create a functioning inside 50 to save themselves. Every goal kicked in the second half came in complete junk-time. The Dogs were, as a whole, allowed to run rampant.
I guess it is back to business as usual for my Dons.
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