Harsh reality hits Dogs as Eagles cruise to win
West Coast 18.13 (121) def. Western Bulldogs 9.16 (70)
The conversation around the Western Bulldogs has changed. It’s no longer about when they are going to return to the heights of 18 months ago. Things were supposed to get better after the challenges of last year. Instead, the situation has become much worse.
In round one the Dogs were trounced by Greater Western Sydney in Canberra. The Giants should be at the pointy end of the ladder, and the nation’s capital is their fortress. That defeat was one thing. On Sunday at Etihad Stadium the Bulldogs were cut to shreds by West Coast, a side notoriously flaky when away from Perth, who by their own admission are going through a transition period, and who were without their senior coach for the game.
High flyer: West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui gets up over the pack to take a grab.
Photo: Wayne LudbeyThe humbling reality for the 2016 premiers is this: The Dogs won five of their first seven games last year, but are 6-11 since. Four of those wins came in consecutive weeks between rounds 17 and 20. In essence, the Dogs have been a poor side for the best part of a year.
On Sunday their backline was made to look a shambles, not by dual Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy - who is out with injury - but rather by second gamers Liam Ryan and Jake Waterman, who ably supported the Eagles' forward focal point Jack Darling.
Down the other end it was a similar tale of woe. Where West Coast’s youthful forwards thrived, inexperienced Dogs Tim English and Billy Gowers had little impact. Not that they were helped by some very average kicks into the forward 50. It meant the Eagles’ assured defensive heads - Jeremy McGovern, Shannon Hurn and in particular Tom Barrass - had a field day.
Save for the awfully quiet Luke Dahlhaus, most of the Dogs’ top bracket of players - Marcus Bontempelli, Jack Macrae, Lachie Hunter, Toby McLean and Jason Johannisen - were solid contributors. But it fell away badly from there.
Even helped by the presence of captain Easton Wood, who spent the day as a backman, the new-look defence featuring Jackson Trengove, Aaron Naughton and debutant Ed Richards couldn't handle the multi-dimensional West Coast forward line. Wood and Zaine Cordy fought valiantly but against the ridiculously exciting Ryan - who flew for speccies at the kind of rate at which Donald Trump tweets - tall targets Darling and Scott Lycett, Waterman, and debutant Willie Rioli, a torrent of goals began after an even first term.
Cause for concern: Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge addresses his players at three-quarter time.
Photo: Wayne LudbeyLin Jong was quiet in his first senior showing since a knee reconstruction last year, and copped a nasty accidental elbow to the face from English for his troubles. Jong, along with Caleb Daniel, Bailey Dale and Dahlhaus, played a long way short of their best.
Where to from here for the Dogs? Surely Mitch Wallis must be due for a recall after a stellar VFL performance at the weekend, especially given Tom Liberatore has been ruled out for the year through injury.
Luke Beveridge’s side were slaughtered in the contested ball stakes on Sunday, and the contest is Wallis’ bread and butter. Josh Schache and Tom Boyd haven’t been banging down the door, but with the Dogs battling to reach the half-century, let alone get to triple figures, Jack Redpath would have to be a big chance to take on Essendon next week after being ruled ineligible for Sunday’s game.
But the defensive issues won’t be fixed in a hurry, at least from a personnel perspective. Hayden Crozier is still at least a few weeks away while Kieran Collins, Dale Morris and Marcus Adams are all mid-season propositions.
By contrast there was much to like for West Coast, and it wasn’t limited to the newcomers. Playing just his second AFL game back from a knee reconstruction, Nic Naitanui started slowly but worked his way into the game with a sublime second term in which he took control of the ruck battle against Jordan Roughead. As usual, Naitanui’s effect could not be measured on stats alone, with his bullocking and deft hands helping break the game open in the second term. Then, as if trying to regain from Ryan his title as West Coast’s aerial king, Naitanui took a hanger of his own in the third term.
WEST COAST
3.5 9.9 12.10 18.13 (121)
WESTERN BULLDOGS
3.3 3.6 5.13 9.16 (70)
GOALS - West Coast: Darling 4, Venables 3, Ryan 3, Waterman 2, LeCras 2, Lycett 2, Gaff, Cripps.
Western Bulldogs: Macrae 3, Dunkley 2, Hunter 2, Gowers, Bontempelli.
BEST - West Coast: Barrass, Darling, Ryan, Hurn, Lycett, Naitanui, Gaff, Yeo
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, McLean, Hunter, Bontempelli, Johannisen
UMPIRES: Ryan, Findlay, Brown.
CROWD: 22,868 at Etihad Stadium.
VOTES
T. Barrass (West Coast) 8
J. Darling (West Coast) 8
L. Ryan (West Coast) 7
S. Hurn (West Coast) 7
S. Lycett (West Coast) 7