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Highlights: Brilliant Bulldogs end the Hawthorn era

Roar Guru
16th September, 2016
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How many neutral fans are cheering now for Bulldogs victory? (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Roar Guru
16th September, 2016
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2241 Reads

Hawthorn’s attempt at four premierships in a row came to an end at the MCG tonight, beaten by a younger, hungrier team in the Western Bulldogs.

The Dogs began full of energy and youthful enthusiasm, but it was the Hawks who were more composed, kicking the first three goals of the game largely from turnovers.

Eventually Western settled somewhat, but despite dominating territory and possession for the most part, they spent most of the first half trailing by three to four goals. Hawthorn did enough defensively to deny their young opponents real scoring chances, and then hurt them on the counterattack.

But in the last few minutes of the first half, Hawthorn’s pressure dropped away ever so slightly and the Dogs took advantage. Three goals for the Bulldogs in a row to narrowed the margin to just one point at half time, which was certainly a better reflection of the nature of the game.

That late flurry turned out to be a harbinger of what was to come. While the Hawks kicked the opening goal of the third term, after an even few minutes, the Dogs began to genuinely assert themselves, continuing to dominate play but more importantly making it pay on the scoreboard, kicking five straight goals to open up a commanding 26 point lead at three-quarter time.

Hawthorn are the Harry Houdini of the AFL, but there was no escaping tonight. The Dogs started on fire in the final term with the first three goals. The margin was as far out as 43 points after ten minutes before the Dogs shut up shop to prepare for next week.

The Hawks were beaten, but they continued to play out the game, and pulled the margin back to within three goals late. The final margin of four goals flattered the reigning premiers – after late in the third quarter they were never a serious chance.

There was quite a bit of talk about the importance of contested footy in the lead up during the week. Quite simply, the Dogs dominated this facet of the game beyond anything you would normally see in a final: 161 contested possessions to 111 over the course of the night.

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That in turn translated into 70 more disposals overall, eight more clearances and twelve more inside 50s for the Dogs. That amount of supply was always going to tell once Hawthorn’s tackling pressure slipped even a little.

The Dogs didn’t have a dominant forward, but they found plenty of individuals in the attacking area who made contributions. Stringer was excellent in the third term when the Dogs got on top. Liam Picken, Caleb Daniel and Josh Dunkley worked hard around half forward. Clay Smith was a tackling menace. Marcus Bontempelli as usual was damaging when he came up from the midfield.

Hawthorn deserve a lot of credit for hanging in as long as they did, in truth. 102 tackles for the night demonstrates how determined they were to keep the four-in-a-row dream alive. Liam Shiels led the way with 12 tackles, while Paul Puopolo had ten of his own. Luke Hodge and Isaac Smith worked hard to clear the ball. Cyril Rioli started on fire but drifted out of the game.

The Hawks’ dynasty may be over, or it may just be turning the page. With some high profile recruits potentially coming their way that club will now start preparing their campaign for the next best thing to a four-peat: four premierships in five seasons.

Western now have eight more days to rest up and prepare to travel to Sydney to play the Giants. After two very impressive wins they are the form team of the finals, will consider themselves every chance to end GWS’ maiden finals appearance and book a spot in a grand final.

This game was another thrilling chapter in this crazy, unpredictable season. Just four matches to go in a truly great year of footy.

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