‘Don’t take anything for granted’: Another Dogs win but Berry down and out
Western Bulldogs 7.5 (47) d. GWS Giants 3.4 (22)
Western Bulldogs have won four straight games and are setting their sights on a run to the AFLW finals but a knee injury to midfielder Deanna Berry served as a dampener on their win over Greater Western Sydney Giants on Saturday.
Bulldogs forwards Isabel Huntington and Bonnie Toogood thrived with three goals each in a 25-point win over the Giants at Whitten Oval which Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke said showed his side’s most promising traits and areas around ball use and pressure which still need work.
But Berry’s late-term injury should be a uniting force for the Bulldogs as they look to match it with the best clubs in the competition.
An injured Deanna Berry.Credit:Getty Images
“We will wait and see but it doesn’t look good,” Burke said.
“It highlights the fragility of playing this game. Those sort of things are a possibility of happening but that doesn’t make them any more heart-breaking for her and her family and friends.
“But it does serve as a reminder to the girls not to take anything for granted. Coming to training and sitting in an ice bath is not something to take for granted as there are girls who won’t get a chance to do that for the rest of the season.
“She will serve as an inspiration for us in lots of ways.”
The Giants kept the Bulldogs at bay for the first term but finally the home side began to break through the lines and as soon as they did it brought the ever-dangerous Huntington and Toogood combination into the contest.
Huntington took a diving mark in front and kicked truly to begin a four-goal-to-nothing scoring run and she added a second before Toogood took over.
The classy forward kicked truly from 35 metres out to extend the lead and then booted a classy goal from the right pocket which saw the home side up 5.2 (32) to 1.2 (8) at half time.
Goals from Kirsten McLeod and a third from Huntington from the boundary had the home side threatening to storm away.
But the Giants stirred and started to win some possession or exploit some poor decision-making from the Bulldogs to kick two goals of their own and keep the margin to around four goals.
A hard tackle is applied.Credit:Getty Images
Pocket goal
It may not be a goal of the season contender but Bulldogs forward Toogood had the Whitten Oval crowd roaring with her third goal during a match-winning second term.
Toogood received a bouncing ball in the right pocket, gathered it, turned blind towards the boundary and ran away from her defender then took a bounce.
With her passing options limited, Toogood went for goal despite having almost no margin for error and her right foot shot went straight as an arrow to extend their lead to 24 points.
Giants grit
It appeared the floodgates were going to open in the third term after the Bulldogs extended their lead but the Giants scored against the run of play with a goal after Alyce Parker set up Britt Tully.
Soon after Erin McKinnon made full use of her 189-centimetre frame to pull down an overhead mark and convert from just outside the square.