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The Western Bulldogs have won just their second first round match of the last six years with a 10 point win over the West Coast Eagles at Etihad Stadium.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 14 13 97
WEST COAST 14 3 87
How do you describe that match?
In a match of constant lead changes, and coast to coast football, it was the Bulldogs who ran out on top to win by 10 points.
At the start of the match, it was all West Coast, who kicked away to an early 13 point lead.
The momentum then changed with another injury to the Eagles.
Mitch Brown, in a marking contest, went down with a knee injury that looked serious.
The look, and discontent from him, indicated he had done something bad and he was taken off in a stretcher.
Adam Simpson, the Eagles coach, later confirmed that he was 99% sure he had done his ACL.
This turned the match as the Bulldogs kicked four of the next five goals to lead at quarter time.
The Eagles then responded in the second quarter with four straight goals before the Bulldogs fought back to lead at half time.
Like the second quarter, the Eagles kicked away in the third quarter, to lead by 15 points midway through the term.
The Bulldogs fought back but were not able to take the lead heading into the final quarter.
In the final quarter though, the Bulldogs would run out on top, and recover from a five point deficit to win by 10 points.
After Natanui scored with a great pick up, and snap, the Bulldogs kicked the last two goals of the match to win.
On another day they could have won by more.
They had 10 more shots on goal, 17 more inside 50’s, 19 more contested possessions, 16 more clearances, and 18 more tackles.
The stats showed that the Bulldogs should have won by more.
They were led well by Matt Boyd and Jackson Macrae who had 33 and 31 disposals each.
Jake Stringer with 3 goals and Marcus Bontempelli with 22 disposals also played well.
Jamie Cripps, who kicked 5 goals, played well for the Eagles with Chris Masten getting 29 touches.
The Eagles now need to re-group quickly before facing Carlton next week on Friday night.
The Bulldogs now face Richmond in what is shaping up to be a cracking contest next Saturday afternoon.
The West Coast Eagles will be looking to continue their strong record against the Western Bulldogs when they face each other at Etihad Stadium. Join The Roar for live coverage of the match from 7:20pm (AEDT).
The Eagles have won five of the last six matches between the two teams, including three out of the four at Etihad Stadium. They are going to have to use that momentum to win today.
In the off-season, over 700 games of experience retired, with Darren Glass, Dean Cox and Beau Waters all ending their careers.
The loss became worse in pre-season with Eric Mackenzie going down with a knee injury for the season and Jack Darling out for up to eight weeks with a foot injury.
As the club’s best defender, Mackenzie is a huge loss. That defence gets put to the test tonight against Tom Boyd, who signed for the Bulldogs from Greater Western Sydney last year.
The Bulldogs have also had changes and injuries in the off-season.
For starters, to get Tom Boyd, the Bulldogs had to lose former captain Ryan Griffen to the Giants. Following him was Adam Cooney, Daniel Giansiracusa, Shaun Higgins and Liam Jones.
The news then got worse in their first practice match of the season. One of their rising stars, and elite midfielders, Tom Liberatore did his ACL and is out for the season.
Heading into the clash both teams have named their strongest available team.
Boyd will make his debut for the club, joining Stewart Crameri in attack after he was freed to play after the Essendon drug scandal. The club will be led by Bob Murphy, captaining for the first time.
The Eagles have named two debutants for the match – Jackson Nelson, pick 51 in the 2014 draft, and Tom Lamb, pick 32 in the 2014 draft. Nelson looks likely to be named as the sub, with Lamb in the forward line.
Prediction
With their recent record against the Bulldogs, and more experience in the midfield, I predict the Eagles to just be too strong.
Eagles by 10.
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