Bulldogs fall just short against Swans
The enormity of the task confronting Western Bulldogs was never clearer than at the opening bounce, when captain Easton Wood jogged down to full-back to play against Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, Sydney’s superstar and the Coleman Medal leader.
The Bulldogs have been swamped by injuries to key defenders, leaving Wood with the short straw at the team meeting during the week.
Wood conceded 12 centimetres in height and 21 kilograms of bulk to Franklin, a nightmare scenario. But he would not yield easily; nor would his football club.
The Bulldogs employed spoilers to leap in front of Franklin in marking contests, with Wood hammering from behind. Wood used old-school defensive smarts: the nudge to the side of Franklin as he was about to leap into the marking contests, for instance, and his own great closing speed and athleticism.
It was a fascinating duel all day and ultimately, reality kicked in for the Bulldogs, who had to be content with a brave and spirited seven-point defeat against one of the premiership favourites. Franklin kicked 3.4 against a herculean Wood, which was just enough to help the Swans over the line on a day when they were below their best.
The game itself was a cracker, not settled until the 28-minute mark of the last quarter when Oliver Florent, Sydney’s small forward, found himself out the back and wide open to accept Isaac Heeney’s quick kick. Florent took off bouncing the Sherrin, evaded the tackle from Tim English, and drilled the goal to make the margin seven points and unassailable.
The Bulldogs had only themselves to blame in a sense, too wasteful in front of goal with 11.13 and at least three shots out of bounds on the full. Their advantage in the inside-50 count (60 to 42) told much of this story; they had every chance to cause a boilover but could not quite manage it.
One huge moment came at the 23-minute mark when Josh Dunkley, wide open near the top of the goal square, went without the football and was swamped by Swans’ defenders as he fumbled it. Had Dunkley goaled, the scores would have been level.
But Luke Beveridge’s team was admirable all the same given the quality of players missing, from Dale Morris to Jordan Roughead to Tom Liberatore (gone for the season) and Jackson Trengove.
The Bulldogs have so many injuries that coach Beveridge has been forced to call upon youth, with just half of his 2016 premiership team running out today. The remarkable thing is, it has worked for him.
With two 18-year-olds (Aaron Naughton and Ed Richards), a 20-year-old ruckman (English) and a 21-year-old fourth-game player (Billy Gowers) in the team, the Dogs almost pulled off one of the best wins since their 2016 premiership triumph.
Among those leading the way were Jack Macrae with 34 disposals and seven clearances around the ball, Marcus Bontempelli (21 dispoals, two goals) and Wood, who managed to ensure that Franklin did not dominate.
The Swans were brilliantly led by Luke Parker (21 disposals, 10 tackles, three goals) in the middle, but many of the Sydney superstars were subdued, notably captain Josh Kennedy. Heeney, who set up the winning goal, was outstanding all night while the steadiness of Dane Rampe and Jarrad McVeigh in defence was important.
The Bulldogs troubled Sydney from the start with their quick ball movement and their willingness to hit in hard at the contests.
Coach Luke Beveridge had said during the week that teenager Aaron Naughton might get the job on Franklin, but it was the skipper who took Franklin when he walked into his deep position at the start of the match.
The Bulldogs went into the game without a plethora of potential defenders to take on the Franklin job. They included veteran Morris, Marcus Adams, Cordy and Trengove who are injured, and even Roughead, who played in the VFL this weekend after recovering from a concussion.
Coach Luke Beveridge was left with an extremely young playing group that included just half the 2016 premiership team.
He was not able to call upon Tom Liberatore, who is out for the season, Liam Picken (who is out indefinitely with concussion symptoms), Clay Smith and Josh Schache.
Both Schache and Tom Boyd played at the secondary level today with Boyd kicking give second-half goals against Coburg at Whitten Oval.
The Swans wore armbands as a mark of respect for Gary Rohan, whose partner gave birth to twins on Thursday. One of the twin girls had a congenital abnormality and did not survive, and Rohan stood out of the game.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.3 7 7. 9.10. 13.8 (86)
SYDNEY 4.0 6.3 10.4 11.13 (79)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Dickson 2, Bontempelli 2, Redpath, Gowers, Jong, Dale, Wallis, Daniel, Dahlhaus
Sydney: Franklin 3, Parker 3, Papley 2, Heeney 2, Cunningham, Towers, Florent
BEST
Sydney: Parker, Heeney, McVeigh, Sinclair, Rampe
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Suckling, Williams, Wood, Bontempelli, Dahlhaus
VOTES
Luke Parker (Sydney) 8
Jack Macrae (WB) 7
Isaac Heeney (Sydney) 6
Matt Suckling (WB) 6
Jarrad McVeigh (Syd) 6