BULLDOGS YAP UP HOPE OF STILL MAKING FINALS
THE Western Bulldogs’ finals hopes remain alive – barely – after sneaking past arch rival Greater Western Sydney in a dour affair at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
Luke Beveridge’s men would have bowed out of the race to September if they had lost to the Giants and had only five points to spare at the final siren.
No.1 draft pick Jamarra UgleHagan kicked the sole goal in the fourth quarter after two earlier misses in the term in a fitting finish to a strange contest.
The Bulldogs will still need to defeat Hawthorn next week and hope other results go their way this round if they are to avoid the ignominy of missing the finals a year after playing off for the premiership.
The sides combined for 35 goals in an entertaining shootout in round 14 but it was obvious from early in this one that there would not be a repeat.
GWS amassed an enormous 165 marks on the afternoon in a deliberate attempt to keep the ball out of the Dogs’ hands – with fans booing within minutes of the game starting – and the tactic almost paid off.
The Giants kept the Bulldogs in check for all bar a five-minute purple patch in the third term when ruckman Tim English inspired his team to four of their nine goals for the match.
Jack Macrae and Caleb Daniel combined for 60 disposals, while Giants Josh Kelly (35), the resurgent Stephen Coniglio (31) and forward-cum-defender Harry Himmelberg (30) won a heap of the Sherrin, too.
NOT-SO-TINY TIM
Only four teams scored more points than the Bulldogs entering round 22 but they mustered only four goals from five scoring shots to halftime on Saturday.
Star ruckman English was one of several Dogs who struggled to match his usual output to that stage – winning only four disposals – but that changed in a big way in the third term.
The agile big man firstly gathered a tap and snapped truly for his team’s fifth major of the day.
English was far from done, also becoming involved in each of the Bulldogs’ next three goals in a four-minute blitzkrieg – two to Bailey Williams and another to Bailey Smith – as their offence belatedly came alive.
ON THE GIANTS’ TERMS
We saw Greater Western Sydney rack up 144 marks in last week’s defeat of Essendon in a significant shift in playing style.
It was the first time in six weeks the Giants had triple-digit marks – and it was an even 100 on the previous occasion – and they averaged barely 82 in between.
Caretaker coach Mark McVeigh clearly liked what he saw and thought it would work against the high-octane Dogs, given his men had 48 by quarter-time and 92 to the main break.
Also on Saturday, a classy and clinical Geelong became the AFL’s minor premiers for 2022 after they scored their 12th-straight win with a 60-point thrashing of the Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
And Adelaide saw off a Ben Cunnington-inspired North Melbourne to make it three wins in a row with a hard-fought 15.13 (103) to 10.14 (74) victory.