A 55-year drought is over as the Western Bulldogs are on their way to their first grand final since 1961. In a preliminary final for the ages, the Dogs clawed their way to a 6-point victory against the heavily favored Giants to book a place against the Sydney Swans next week.
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It was a tightly contested affair throughout the night with the lead changing hands constantly between the two sides and the margin never exceeding 14 points.
The Bulldogs started the game strongly, dominating the inside 50 count through some elite kicking. But some wayward shots at goal and some opportunistic play from the Giants left the Bulldogs with a razor thin two-point lead at quarter time.
In a fierce and physical display of football both teams suffered key injuries in the second quarter. Jordan Roughead felt the full brunt of a falcon going off the field to due to bleeding in his right eye. It is the unluckiest of injuries for the Dogs’ big man after he started the game strongly against Shane Mumford.
Just minutes later play was stopped briefly as Giants co-captain Callan Ward was knocked out cold after an errant knee from Zaine Cordy caught Ward clean on the chin. Neither player was unable to make it back on the ground.
Despite an advantage in most key statistics the lead for the Bulldogs was a paltry nine points at the half.
The intensity lifted another notch in the third quarter as the Giants midfielders started to impact the game to quickly erode the Dogs’ lead. Led by Tom Scully (30 disposals) and Dylan Shiel (28 disposals), GWS started to dominate out of the center.
With Toby Greene, Jonathon Patton and Rory Lobb combining for 10 goals between them it seemed like the Giants would pull away for a famous victory, after gaining a 14-point buffer three minutes into the last quarter.
But just like Lazarus, the Bulldogs rose again. With Clay Smith and Tory Dickson kicking four goals each and Jason Johannisen providing fearless run off half-back the Dogs reclaimed the lead one final time.
After kicking just one goal for the season, Jackson Macrae kicked arguably the most important goal in history for the Western Bulldogs to seal the game.
The Dogs have been the Cinderella story of the season and now find themselves one win away from finishing a story even Hollywood would have a hard time believing. After ending a 55-year drought tonight the Bulldogs have the chance to end a much more important 61-year drought next Saturday.
Player Votes
3 – Clay Smith
2 – Tom Scully
1 – Jason Johannisen
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