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The Western Bulldogs have defeated Hawthorn by 22 points in an exciting, and relatively high-scoring, match in Ballarat, although both sides will take many positives away from the great pre-season contest.
The first quarter was a goal scoring feast – the teams delivered eleven of the majors – and was more than enjoyable to watch.
With both teams holding leads are various stages of the long quarter, it was their respective offences which game to prominence.
Fast, slick and goal after goal – it was a great introduction to these two teams in 2018. The usual suspects quickly accumulated the ball for both teams – Tom Mitchell for the Hawks, Jack Macrae and Marcus Bontempelli for the Bulldogs.
The long (thirty or so minutes) quarter came to an end with a four point Bulldogs lead.
As one would expect, the ferocious nature of the first fell away a bit in the second stanza, as the goal scoring dried up.
A trio of early goals – two of them to the Hawks, giving them the lead back – then transitioned to a string of inaccuracy from both sides.
Six consecutive behinds, though, shouldn’t overshadow the exciting play that was happening throughout the ground.
Truthfully, it was difficult to predict who’d conquer the match. The lead was the Hawks’, though, at the half – thanks to an after-the-siren goal to Isaac Smith.
The third quarter was an ominous one for the Hawks, as the Bulldogs took control of the game. Two behinds and a goal in the first four minutes of the second half allowed them to equalize the scores, before Hawthorn snatched the lead back through Ryan Schoenmakers.
The Dogs, after that, booted three, including the first goals in the blue, white and red to Josh Schache and Jackson Trengrove. Roughead got a late one back for the Hawks, but although their lead – twelve points – wasn’t the biggest, the Dogs looked to be in the box seat for a win.
And they ultimately were. A comparatively low scoring final quarter – three goals to the Dogs, just a solitary one to the Hawks – meant the Dogs comfortably took a 22 point lead to the final siren.
Both teams will take plenty of positives away, with the performances of the biggest names on the ground impressing. Bontempelli (25 touches) was excellent, and Tom Mitchell (30 touches and a goal) was often scintillating.
Macrae (24 and two goals) and Shane Biggs (28) were also high accumulaters of the ball for the Dogs, as were James Sicily (24) and Smith (18 and one goal) for the Hawks.
Josh Schache didn’t play the first half, and scored a memorable goal early in the second, but made just about zero impact other than that, while Jaeger O’Meara (16 touches) was solid for the Hawks.
Hawthorn take on Carlton in their next JLT encounter on March 10, whilst the Bulldogs play Collingwood the same day.
Western Bulldogs: 15.10 (100)
Hawthorn: 11.12 (78)
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