AFL Round 16 North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs: All the news and analysis from Marvel Stadium
Alastair Clarkson has called for umpires to be more vigilant about players “milking” freekicks after two lineball decisions came back to haunt North Melbourne in its loss to Western Bulldogs.
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A miffed North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has urged umpires to be more vigilant about “getting milked” for free kicks after a pair of dubious off-the-ball incidents involving serial Western Bulldogs pest Cody Weightman led to goals for the Dogs at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
The first one occurred seconds before quarter-time when North trailed by only three points. Kangaroos youngster Jackson Archer was penalised way off the ball for supposedly catching Weightman too high, but TV replays showed Archer barely grazed the Bulldog’s ponytail.
Weightman accepted the free kick 25m out directly in front and made no mistake.
And just before three-quarter time, Weightman was in the thick of the action again. After teammate Adam Treloar took a mark 50m out on the boundary line, North defender Aidan Corr pushed Weightman with minimal force, but the umpire got sucked in after the Bulldogs forward played up the contact.
The end result was Treloar being paid a 50m penalty, which turned an incredibly difficult shot on goal into a certainty.
In a game that only produced 20 goals, and was decided by just 17 points, Clarkson described the incidents as “quite costly”.
“It is frustrating, but the umps are making decisions on what they think they see and so you’ve just got to abide by what transpires on the ground,” Clarkson said post-match.
“But it’s a close contest and goals are at a premium, they become quite costly.
“So we need to work out with our own players either is the contact unnecessary? There’s contact that happens between players all the time and what the umps need to be really, really mindful of is just how much their free kicks are getting milked when they are so costly when they’re in that part of the ground.”
The loss capped off an unfortunate 48-hour period for the Kangaroos who lost young gun George Wardlaw to concussion at training on Thursday, and given the timing of his entry into protocols, the midfielder has been forced to sit out at least two games, rather than the usual one.
“I think he’s OK. It’s just so unfortunate,” Clarkson said.
“To get better in footy, it’s a combative game that we play, and every time players run out for a training session they’re at some sort of risk given they need to prepare well for the game.
“We initially thought he just hurt his shoulder but he just complained of a bit of daziness [sic] from the contact.”
Zac Fisher had to be subbed out with a lower leg injury after an industrious showing that saw him rack up 22 touches from just 43 per cent game time, but Clarkson was optimistic it was at the “minor” end of the scale.
MARCUS THE MAGNIFICENT: BONT POWERS DOGS INTO EIGHT
Marcus Bontempelli has done it again.
For the second game in a row, there were concerns over the Bulldogs captain’s availability during the week, after the superstar left training early due to a back complaint.
But just as he did against Fremantle in his last outing, he shrugged off his midweek issues to produce another best-on-ground performance against a fast-finishing North Melbourne that saw him register 35 disposals (20 contested) and 11 clearances
The latest Bontempelli virtuoso display helped guide the Dogs to a 17-point victory and kept himself in the hunt for an elusive maiden Brownlow Medal.
The 11.11 (77) to 9.6 (60) result could launch the Bulldogs into the top eight for the first time since Round 6, having now won five of their last seven games after making a shaky 3-5 start to the year.
After falling 38 points down late in the third quarter, the Kangaroos kicked five of the last seven goals, but left their run too late.
North Melbourne will spend their 12th week in a row at the bottom of the ladder and while they have shown a lot of improvement in the past month, the fact remains that they’ve now lost 34 of their last 36 games.
The Bulldogs probably should’ve won by a bigger margin, but a combination of poor ball use inside 50, inaccurate goalkicking and a sturdy North Melbourne backline prevented them from cashing in on their sizeable forward-entry advantage (57-42).
BACKMEN BRILLIANT
Halfway through the final quarter, the Kangaroos had an 11-1 lead in marks inside defensive 50, and that was thanks largely to the efforts of Charlie Comben and Aidan Corr who did stellar jobs on Sam Darcy (one goal) and Aaron Naughton (two) respectively.
But down the other end of the ground, Bulldogs backman Liam Jones was outstanding in keeping Nick Larkey goalless while racking up 17 possessions and 10 marks. Adam Treloar was also important for the Dogs with 22 touches and two goals.
XERRI SHINES
Meanwhile, North ruckman Tristan Xerri continued to enhance his reputation as one of the most improved players in the league with 20 touches (13 contested), 34 hit-outs and a goal against Tim English. But despite Xerri’s superiority, the Dogs still comfortably won the clearances 39-29.
WEIGHTMAN SUCKS IN UMPS TWICE
The Bulldogs were gifted a pair of goals at crucial times during the game by the umpires who got sucked in by a couple of dubious incidents involving serial pest Cody Weightman.
The first one occurred seconds before quarter-time when North trailed by only three points. Kangaroos youngster Jackson Archer was penalised way off the ball for supposedly catching Weightman too high, but TV replays showed Archer barely grazed the Bulldog’s ponytail. Weightman accepted the free kick 25m out directly in front and made no mistake.
Like shelling peas for Cody ðŸ‘#AFLNorthDogspic.twitter.com/P6kQpj145N
— AFL (@AFL) June 29, 2024
And just before three-quarter time, Weightman was in the thick of the action again. After teammate Adam Treloar took a mark 50m out on the boundary line, North defender Aidan Corr pushed Weightman with all the power of a wet lettuce leaf, but incredibly the umpire bought it hook, line and sinker after the Bulldogs forward acted as if he was shot, and paid Treloar a 50m penalty, turning an incredibly difficult shot on goal into a certainty.
Just prior to that, North had generated a bit of momentum by kicking a pair of goals to get back within 25 points. However, any hope they had of mounting a comeback went up in smoke thanks to the umpire’s gullibility.
INJURY CONCERNS
The win came at a cost for the Bulldogs with Taylor Duryea subbed out due to an apparent foot sprain, while North’s Zac Fisher was also subbed out with a foot injury after an industrious showing that saw him rack up 22 touches from just 43 per cent game time.
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