Dogs 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 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 took them 45 minutes to grasp control against an outfit that was lacking its two top ruckmen and a host of other players.

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.

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.

Two Bombers who are to have their careers ended for them at the end of this season led the possession count at quarter-time, though Jason Johnson's eight were of greater quality than Damien Peverill's mixed bag of eight. 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 goals in the second half.

Young ruckman Tom Bellchambers showed promise and Patrick Ryder provided unlikely relief in ruck, a move that coach Matthew Knights said was not likely to be often repeated.

"The reality is we're grooming Patrick to be an outstanding defender," Knights said. "He's a centre half-back in the making."

Midway through the second term the experience of the Dogs started to shine through as the young Bombers slowed considerably, allowing the Dogs to kick five straight goals and go into the long break with a 28-point lead.

In the first half it was Hahn who stood tall for the Bulldogs, but it was not until the third term 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 Cale Hooker, who was given a bath by the rugged Bulldog.

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's 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, coming back to steer his side to a 57-point lead at the final change.

Jason Akermanis took his chance to shrug off a poor month, kicking four 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).

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

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.

INJURIES - Western Bulldogs: Ray (virus), Gilbee (virus) replaced in selected side by Everitt, Higgins. Essendon: Welsh (hamstring), Watson (ankle), McVeigh (soreness).

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. 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 four goals. 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's best young player, but he struggled to have an impact last night. -- EMMA QUAYLE

© 2008 The Age

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