Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs: All the news, intel and key takeaways from pre-season practice match
Marcus Bontempelli is more than confident he’ll be right for round 1, but without him it was the future of the Bulldogs who shone brightest against Hawthorn.
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Western Bulldogs superstar Marcus Bontempelli is confident he will be fit for round one despite being put on ice early with a calf issue in Thursday’s 11-point pre-season win over Hawthorn at Launceston.
The Dogs captain played no further part after leaving the field with ‘low level calf tightness’ in the first quarter, and went up the race with a club physio.
Already facing a number of injury concerns before they take on North Melbourne in 16 days’ time, the Dogs captain eased fears when he resurfaced and said “Yeah I’ll be alright” to Fox Footy boundary rider Cameron Mooney.
Laitham Vandermeer also left the field with concussion late in the first half.
The Dogs already have an extensive injury list including Ed Richards (calf), Adam Treloar (calf), Liam Jones (hamstring), Jason Johannisen (hamstring), Bailey Dale (quad) and Cody Weightman (knee), with Jamarra Ugle-Hagan also out for at least round 1.
The Hawks’ irresistible surge in the back half of last season was one of the stories of the year, but they were lethargic in the first half and trailed by 22 at halftime.
After a spray from coach Sam Mitchell the Hawks were far better after the main break, but the Dogs deserved their win.
Bulldogs assistant coach Daniel Harris allayed any fears their talisman Marcus Bontempelli could miss round one, adamant his early exit from Thursday’s pre-season win against Hawthorn was simply precautionary.
He insisted he’s in no real danger for their round one clash against North Melbourne in 16 days’ time.
“We just weren’t going to take any risk, and not many clubs would at this time of year with a player like him,” Harris said.
After he re-emerged from the rooms with a club physio, Bontempelli said to Fox Footy boundary rider Cam Mooney “Yeah, I’ll be alright”.
Bontempelli’s absence is the last thing the Bulldogs could afford as they battle an already lengthy injury list.
ROOKIE DAVIDSON A ‘LOCK’ FOR ROUND ONE
Bontempelli’s issue was the only downside for the Bulldogs, with untried youngster Sam Davidson producing an almost irresistible audition for a round one spot.
Taken at pick 51 in last year’s draft, Davidson racked up 23 disposals and a goal in the first half, and finished the game with 29.
His case to play the Kangaroos was backed by former Dogs skipper Brad Johnson in Fox Footy commentary.
“He’s playing (round one) off the back off this first half in particular,” Johnson said.
“That’s a lock right there. If you looked up lock in the dictionary you’d see Davidson’s face.”
Davidson 24, is a mature age rookie from Richmond’s VFL side and he was superb playing mainly across the wing.
He was much quieter in the second half, but might already have done enough.
Sam Davidson is certainly impressing today 👀#AFLHawksDogspic.twitter.com/pMmHkhfaZ0
— AFL (@AFL) February 27, 2025
“We were really pleased with Davo, I think he ended up with close to 30 (touches) and held down his wing for the day,” assistant coach Daniel Harris said.
“He showed talent in the VFL last year (with Richmond) and we’ve been really pleased with him. Today probably just represented his pre season.
“We also had (draftee Josh) Dolan have his first hitout and he looked sharp at times and (second year player (Jordan) Croft was able to play wing and back, so we had a good look at the young guys.”
The Bulldogs played their best available 22 and deserved their victory.
“We played a number of players last week against Essendon and probably didn’t get the look we wanted,” Harris said.
“We sharpened it up with the team, and played a normal bench. We got a good look in the first half and Hawthorn put some pressure on us in the third quarter and the game changed from there, but it was good to get the win.
BARRASS, BATTLE BEGIN LIFE AS HAWKS STRONGLY
Could the acquisition of Tom Barrass and Josh Battle to shore up a relatively inexperienced midfield be the improvement Hawthorn wins to contend for the flag?
The early signs are strong after both showed they will add plenty to Hawthorn’s back six.
The Bulldogs dominated the first half which gave the duo plenty of chances to showcase what they can do.
Battle racked up 27 touches while Barrass won most of his one-on-one contests and displayed his intercept game.
Hawthorn’s only recruit of note was former Blue Matt Kennedy who had 19 touches.
MCNEIL CAN GIVE BEVERIDGE WELCOME HEADACHES
The Bulldogs’ regular goalsneak Rhylee West didn’t play, and Lachie McNeil took his chance with both hands.
He kicked four first half goals and did everything in his power to press for a round one spot with a handful of more entrenched Dogs sidelined by injury.
McNeil has played 54 games the past four seasons and kicked 25 goals, but it was a display which will give coach Luke Beveridge food for thought.
Young key forward Sam Darcy was also electric at times and booted three goals.
HOW WILL HAWKS HANDLE TARGET ON BACKS?
One of this year’s intriguing storylines will be whether the Hawks can stay a couple of steps ahead of their rivals, who have now had six months to analyse their dynamic game style.
Coach Sam Mitchell was less than pleased with his side’s effort and performance on Fox Footy at halftime.
“We’re lucky the scoreboard looks like it does. They were far better than us and we needed a bit of a shock to the system,” he said.
“We looked a bit better that (second) quarter, but we’ve got some work to do.”
He clearly gave his troops an old fashioned spray at the break, and it did the trick.
Their work rate was much improved and they briefly took the lead in the last quarter.
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Originally published as Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs: All the news, intel and key takeaways from pre-season practice match
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