Bulldogs Take A Finals Step

The Age

Saturday August 23, 2008

By Nick Sheridan, and Emma Quayle for Fast Footy

THE Western Bulldogs have emerged from the doldrums of the past six weeks with an emphatic 46-point win over an undermanned Essendon side in front of 37,294 people at the Telstra Dome last night.

The Dogs needed to make a statement in the lead-up to the finals after losing four of their previous five matches, and make it they did, though it did take them 45 minutes of football to grasp control of the match against an outfit that was lacking its two top ruckmen and a host of players who had led the Bombers' late-season improvement.

Mitch Hahn was dominant with six goals, and was the man who inspired his side to break the game apart after the Dons challenged early.

The young Bombers managed to delay the inevitable for the first one-and-a-half quarters, applying relentless pressure to a rather lacklustre-looking Bulldogs outfit.

By quarter-time the Bombers' persistent pursuit of the ball - they led the tackle count by 20-9 - and willingness to take chances when they won possession, had earned them a one-point lead.

It was two Bombers who were to have their careers ended for them at the end of this season who led the possession count at quarter-time, though Jason Johnson's eight were by far of greater quality, while Damien Peverill's eight were a mixed bag. Retiring defender Mal Michael also seemed intent on making his second-last game count, laying a massive shepherd on the wing that led to Matthew Lloyd's second goal early in the second term, and kicking two himself in an unlikely cameo up forward in the second half.

But midway through the second term the experience of the Dogs started to shine through, and the youth of the Dons was shown up as the young Bombers slowed considerably, allowing the Dogs to kick a run of five straight goals, going into the long break with a commanding 28-point lead.

In that first half it was Hahn who stood tall for the Bulldogs, but it was not until the third quarter that the big man got his just reward, exploding with a commanding run of three goals before he was given a long spell on the bench. It was a traumatic introduction to league footy for first-gamer Cale Hooker, who was given an absolute bath by the rugged Bulldogs forward.

In Hahn's absence skipper Brad Johnson took over, kicking two neat goals running off the wing within a minute. A few minutes earlier it looked as though Johnson' night was to end prematurely, when Hahn landed on the skipper's foot as he came down with a mark.

Johnson struggled on his feet for a few minutes before heading to the boundary, before coming back to steer his side to an unassailable 57-point lead at the final change.

Jason Akermanis, too, had his chance to shrug the cold comfort of a poor month, kicking four very telling goals just to show that he was back in time for the business end of the season. Of course, much of the opportunity came from the hard work of midfielders Adam Cooney (28 possessions), Daniel Cross (29) and Daniel Giansiracusa (27).

The Dogs looked capable of giving the young Dons a brutal lesson in the final term, but took their foot off the accelerator, allowing the Dons to outscore them in the last quarter.

? Bombers Bachar Houli, Sam Lonergan, Kyle Reimers and Angus Monfries have signed new two-year deals to stay at Essendon until the end of 2010.

* Time running out for West SPORT 4

FAST FOOTY

W BULLDOGS

3.3 10.6 19.8 23.13 (151)

ESSENDON

3.4 5.8 9.11 15.15 (105)

GOALS

Western Bulldogs: Hahn 6, Johnson 4, Akermanis 4, Minson 2, Welsh 2, Cooney, Eagleton, Harbrow, Murphy, Boyd.

Essendon: Lloyd 4, Michael 2, Stanton 2, Lonergan, Lovett-Murray, McPhee, Monfries, McVeigh, Nash, Dyson.

BEST

Western Bulldogs: Hahn, Cooney, Giansiracusa, Griffen, Hill, Akermanis.

Essendon: Lloyd, Stanton, McVeigh, Nash, Welsh.

UMPIRES

Donlon, McLaren, Hendrie.

CROWD

37,294 at Telstra Dome.

THE UPSHOT

If it's as simple as winning form being good form, then the Bulldogs have a little back. It took them only a quarter-and-a-half to break away from the Bombers but, even though they won easily, they still lacked some run and decisiveness off half-back in the early parts of the match and looked a way off dismantling Geelong.

TALKING POINT

Aka: has he got his groove back? After an indifferent five or six weeks, he was back on the scoreboard last night, kicking his first goal after flicking a handball to a teammate and running on to take the ball back. He wasn't the match-winner, but he moved with more power, zip and urgency than he has in a while.

HOT AND COLD

The Bulldogs' forward line warmed up, with Mitch Hahn in a particularly feisty mood. Paddy Ryder is probably Essendon best young player, but he's struggling to get much of the ball at the moment and didn't get near it much last night, playing forward, back and in the ruck. -- EMMA QUAYLE

© 2008 The Age

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