AFL news 2024: Sam Darcy stars as Western Bulldogs demolish North Melbourne
Last year, the Western Bulldogs had a finals spot in the bag and blew it. Here’s what Luke Beveridge is telling his troops to avoid the same thing happening with season 2024 on the line next weekend.
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The stakes are enormous for the Western Bulldogs next week as they aim to lock up a finals spot when they take on fierce rivals Greater Western Sydney in the final round in Ballarat.
A victory over the Giants would guarantee the Bulldogs a top-eight spot, but a loss would see them relying on other results to qualify for the September action.
However, Dogs coach Luke Beveridge insisted he would not be telling his players to head into the match as though the finals have come early for them.
“One of the things you can do in these situations is go to that outcome-based approach to the game,” Beveridge said.
“And I think if you go down that track, straight away you’ve moved away from the core of what you really should be focusing on.
“There are a lot of things out of our control and all we can do is influence from within and we’ll do our best to get our players in the right headspace.
“It’s still up in the air, isn’t it?”
The Bulldogs threw away a finals berth this time last year with stunning losses to bottom-three Hawthorn and West Coast sensationally scuppering their hopes, and Beveridge said they were well-placed to atone for that horrific finale 12 months on.
*READ MORE: How week one of finals could play out*
“I won’t say that I’ve forgotten about it but it’s a little bit different this year where it is in our control, as the previous year wasn’t (in the final round),” Beveridge said.
“In the end (in 2023) we were going in with a bit of hope whereas we’re going into the last round (in 2024) knowing that if we win, we’ll play finals.”
The Bulldogs have been one of the form teams of the competition since Round 10, defeating Sydney (away), GWS (away), Geelong (away), Fremantle, Carlton and Collingwood, who were all regarded as top-four chances at various stages throughout the season.
And it’s that kind of form that has Beveridge confident of what his team can achieve in September if they finish in the top eight.
“Some of our footy this year has challenged a number of teams in the competition,” he said.
“So we feel good about our prospects week to week … you can only imagine how we’ll probably approach it and how we’ll feel about our prospects if we get there.”
One part of the Bulldogs’ game which needs tidying up is their goalkicking. They ended up going better than 50 per cent in their 96-point smashing of North Melbourne on Sunday, booting 20.18 (138), but in their previous five games they scored more behinds than goals.
However, Beveridge insisted he was “not really” concerned about it.
“There’s been times where we haven’t been flash at that but then the planets have aligned and you start to convert,” he said.
“So I’m never really strung up on it because I think if you are it exacerbates the issue.”
The prodigious Sam Darcy was emblematic of that theory this week, booting a career-high seven goals against North after registering a wayward 1.5 against Adelaide last round.
“That was the message out of last week’s game publicly and then privately to Sam is, ‘Hey, you’re a good kick, get back to some method and I’m more going to praise you for what you did as a key forward in the air and your defensive efforts. The other stuff will come this week’,” Beveridge said.
“I think that’s the best way to approach it.
“As far as the game between the ears, to see the way he was able to take a deep breath and convert and not even really worry too much about last week, that was a good step for Sam.”
Ruckman Tim English (ankle) is unlikely to face the Giants, but in some good news for the Bulldogs, Aaron Naughton only suffered cramp late in the game against the Kangaroos after sending a scare through the camp when he clutched at his left hamstring and made a beeline for the bench.
DOGS’ DAY OUT AS DARCY BOOTS SEVEN
A career-best seven-goal bag from Sam Darcy has powered the Western Bulldogs to a 96-point annihilation of a sorry North Melbourne outfit at Marvel Stadium on Sunday and ensured they have one foot in the finals series.
At 208cm, Darcy became the tallest player in VFL/AFL history to kick at least six goals in a game, eclipsing the previous record set by former Essendon and Hawthorn champion Paul Salmon (205cm).
Star forward Aaron Naughton limped from the field late in the game, but only with cramp.
After a hard-fought first quarter, the Bulldogs absolutely blitzed the hapless Kangaroos, outscoring them 15.15 to 3.2, and kicking nine goals in a row at one stage.
The margin exceeded 100 points at the 20-minute mark of the final term when Bailey Williams kicked truly, but George Wardlaw ensured the final difference would be below triple digits with a goal four minutes later.
The Bulldogs tall timber in attack troubled North’s backline all game, and with Charlie Comben (concussion/calf) subbed out of the game early due to injury, the Kangaroos couldn’t cope with the Bulldogs’ repeat entries.
Darcy and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (three goals) dined out on North’s undersized defence and were assisted greatly by the Bulldogs midfield who smashed the Kangaroos in clearances 40-31, centre clearances 17-8 and inside 50s 69-34. North’s on-ball brigade gave their battling backline absolutely no protection.
Early in the third quarter, the ball had already spent 72 per cent of the game in the Bulldogs’ forward half.
LIBBA DOMINATES
Liberatore was the chief destroyer at the coal face, racking up 10 clearances, to go with 23 disposals (14 contested) and five inside 50s, Darcy ended up with 20 possessions (11 contested) and nine marks (four) and Joel Freijah (29 touches) put in a great performance in defence.
Adam Treloar was his usual industrious self with 33 disposals and seven tackles, Liam Jones kept Nick Larkey quiet and Ed Richards was effective again in the midfield with 22 disposals (12 contested), five clearances and two goals.
DOGS CLOSE IN ON FINALS
The 20.18 (138) to 6.6 (42) result saw the Dogs move to sixth on the ladder and they remain a very slim chance to finish in the top four.
But for that to happen, they would need to beat GWS in the final round and hope Essendon and West Coast beat Brisbane (away) and Geelong (away) respectively, which is highly unlikely to say the least.
GIANT TASK STILL AHEAD
To make sure of a top-eight spot, and not rely on other teams doing them favours, the Bulldogs have to beat the Giants in Ballarat next week, otherwise their fate will be in the lap of the gods. Importantly, the Bulldogs significantly increased their percentage from 118.5 to 123.8.
The Kangaroos are now assured of a fifth season in a row featuring just four wins or less, which is their worst ever stretch.
Most teams in recent years have had the wood over struggling North Melbourne, and the Western Bulldogs are no exception, having now won their last seven meetings by an average of 58 points.
COMBEN CLANGERS
Before being subbed out in the first term, Comben had a couple of moments he would rather forget. At the eight-minute mark, he dropped a fairly straightforward mark, Naughton collected the spillage and handballed it to Ugle-Hagan in the goalsquare for the easy six-pointer.
And Comben was the culprit again seven minutes later when his simple chip kick to Zac Fisher in the middle of the ground went over the former Blue’s head and allowed the Bulldogs to pounce. From the ensuing chain of possessions, Laitham Vandermeer nailed his set shot from 15m out directly in front.
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