AFL round five, 2022: North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs news, scores and reaction
The past two Good Friday games have been decided by 128 and 68 points. Do the Roos deserve to play in a marquee clash with these results?
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North Melbourne’s viability in the marquee Good Friday slot is sure to come under scrutiny again after they were smashed by the Western Bulldogs for the second year in a row.
A year after copping an embarrassing 128-point defeat to the Dogs, the Kangaroos were totally outclassed again on Friday at Marvel Stadium, losing by 68 points.
The Bulldogs set up the win with a blistering first quarter which saw them kick eight goals, including four to livewire Cody Weightman, as they shot out to a 51-point lead early in the second term.
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It looked like a sequel to ‘Good Friday Massacre 2021’ was in the works, and you could almost hear league executives scratching their heads as to what they were going to do with this marquee match going forward as the Kangaroos looked on track for back-to-back 100-point losses on the Easter public holiday.
And while North Melbourne hit back hard with a strong second term, which featured five consecutive goals, the Bulldogs wrested back control of the contest after halftime to cruise to an easy victory and ensure a second one-sided Good Friday contest in as many years between these two teams.
North Melbourne coach David Noble said his club would fight “tooth and nail” to maintain their involvement in the Good Friday game.
“Between us and the Bulldogs in the last six or seven years we’ve worked really hard to make this a marquee game,” Noble said post-match.
“It’s not just about the game. I think if you go back and have a look at the history of our marquee games previously, there are a lot of other clubs that haven’t actually hit the mark on those marquee games.
“Over a period of time you’re able to wrestle things together, improve their performance and so therefore those marquee games hold.
“We’re fighting like tooth and nail on this game — we love this game, we’re very privileged to play in this game, but we would not expect to lose this game.
“I just want to make it clear from our club’s perspective that we expect to play in this game every year.
“I understand today is a big piece of it, I understand that, but it’s a bit broader than that. We do a lot of work behind the scenes as a club to support the Royal Children’s Hospital and Good Friday.”
Having kicked 18.43 in their previous nine quarters, the Dogs had no such issues with accuracy this week when the game was up for grabs, scoring 21.13.139 (after being 18.5 at one stage) to the Kangaroos’ 11.5.71 in a result that coach Dogs coach Luke Beveridge will hope kickstarts his team’s faltering season.
Bailey Smith was magnificent for the Bulldogs, finishing with a colossal 43 disposals (13 contested), while Weightman (career-high five goals), Bailey Dale (25 disposals), Aaron Naughton (five goals), Jack Macrae (29 touches) and Adam Treloar (28) were also influential.
The Bulldogs dominated the vast majority of the game, and finished with big wins in disposals (427-288), contested possessions (156-120), marks (124-62), inside-50s (67-45) and handball receives (135-96).
Beveridge said his side was still a long way from “absolute perfection” but he was buoyed by the improved goalkicking.
“It’s a good result and it’s the chicken or the egg sometimes,” Beveridge said of the goalkicking.
“It’s where they come from and how they come in to the forward line.
“We were able to get them a little bit closer to goal and some great contests from a little bit taller forward line, which we haven’t always had the luxury of having.
“I think that made a difference. We were able to scramble some goals, we got one or two from forward 50 stoppages.
“It just takes the edge off a little bit when you score early, so that was nice.”
The loss was exacerbated for North who lost Aaron Hall (hamstring) and Jack Mahony (ankle) to injury while Bulldogs youngster Riley Garcia hurt his knee.
Garcia suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his draft year in 2019.
“We’re a bit worried about him, but we’ll have to be a bit noncommittal,” Beveridge said.
“The exact nature of the injury, we’ll just have to wait and see what the scan shows up, but it’s not ideal.”
Dogs start stuns Roos
The Bulldogs’ quarter-time score of 8.3 (51) was their best since Round 20, 2015, when they kicked the same score against Melbourne, and their best against North Melbourne in 20 years when they registered 8.5 (53) in Round 17, 2002.
The Bulldogs’ midfield benefited from North’s lack of pressure in the opening term as Smith, Tom Liberatore, Treloar, Tim English and Macrae dominated the ball to give their team a staggering 113-53 advantage in disposals at quarter time.
The Kangaroos just couldn’t get their hands on the footy as the Bulldogs pumped it inside their forward 50 with monotonous regularity, taking a 20-9 advantage in that stat at the first break, as well as sizeable leads in marks 38-16, clearances 11-6, contested possessions 41-26 and handball receives 31-13.
Weightman was unstoppable in the first period and set the tone for his team’s goalkicking performance following their nightmare fortnight in front of the sticks. The Dogs averaged 10 goals a game for the season heading into the match, and they already had eight on the board before quarter time.
Weightman shows Dogs the way
Big questions were surrounding the Bulldogs’ goalkicking abilities heading into this match, but Weightman got them off to a perfect start in that department. After 46 seconds, the small forward accepted the handball from Marcus Bontempelli, ran to 45m out and drilled it on a sharp angle on his non-preferred foot.
But he didn’t do his reputation for exaggerating free kicks any favours with his second goal. After being held without the ball, he certainly let the umpire know about it as he flailed his arms about and dramatically fell back to earn the free kick, before slotting the set shot from 30m out directly in front.
The free kick was there, but the extra ‘mayo’ he put on it is sure to rankle opposition fans even more.
Naughton back in town
Naughton also fixed his radar after managing only 8.8 in the first four weeks and his third goal midway through the third quarter was his best as he grabbed the loose ball from his own hitout at the ruck contest, bursts through the traffic and snapped truly from the top of the goalsquare.
SCOREBOARD
NORTH MELBOURNE 1.0, 6.2, 8.4, 11.5 (71)
def by
WESTERN BULLDOGS 8.3, 10.4, 15.5, 21.13 (139)
GOALS
Kangaroos: Larkey 4, Taylor 2, Stephenson, Xerri, Ziebell, Ford, Powell
Bulldogs: Weightman 5, Naughton 5, Bontempelli 3, Scott 2, Cordy, Wallis, English, Macrae, Hunter, Ugle-Hagan.
LERNER’S BEST
Kangaroos: Xerri, Simpkin, Perez, Young
Bulldogs: B.Smith, Weightman, Naughton, Dale, English, Macrae, Treloar.
LERNER’S VOTES
3 — B.Smith (WB)
2 — C.Weightman (WB)
1 — A.Naughton (WB)
INJURIES
Kangaroos: Hall (hamstring), Mahony (ankle).
Bulldogs: Garcia (knee).
UMPIRES: Whetton, Heffernan, Mollison
VENUE: Marvel Stadium
RECAP
Q3: Dogs flex muscle after Roos’ fightback
The Western Bulldogs have kicked away in their Good Friday clash with North Melbourne once again, flexing their collective muscle with a strong third quarter at Marvel Stadium.
After the Kangaroos narrowed the margin to as little as 19 points late in the second quarter, the Bulldogs posted a five-goal-to-two third quarter to establish a comfortable 43-point lead at the final change.
However, it was not all good news for the Bulldogs, with star midfielder Jack Macrae escorted down to the rooms after kicking a goal late in the quarter.
Macrae copped a knock to the head in a tackle late in the term and underwent concussion tests.
The Bulldogs already lost Riley Garcia (knee) to injury just before halftime, activating medical substitute Mitch Wallis.
North Melbourne lost defender Aaron Hall to a hamstring injury late in the second term.
Cody Weightman booted his fifth goal early in the last quarter as the Dogs ran away with it by 68 points, 21.13 (139) to 11.5 (71).
Q2: Embarrassing to electric: Roos inspire in Good Friday fightback
North Melbourne has gone from embarrassing to electric in the space of a quarter, turning around a woeful opening term to get back into its Good Friday clash against the Western Bulldogs.
The Kangaroos were uncompetitive a first quarter where they were belted in the clearances and the Bulldogs completely controlled the game with uncontested marking around the ground.
The Bulldogs led by as much as 51 points after a Zaine Cordy goal at the three-minute mark of the second quarter.
However, from there the Kangaroos’ pressure lifted and their midfield got to work as they kicked five-straight goals against last year’s Grand Finalists.
Goals from Tristian Xerri, Jack Ziebell, Eddie Ford and two majors for Curtis Taylor all came in the space of 13 minutes for the Kangaroos.
The run reduced the margin to as little as 19 points before the streak was broken by an Aaron Naughton goal for the Bulldogs with 1:28 left on the clock before halftime.
North Melbourne defender Aaron Hall limped from the ground in the final 90 seconds before the main break with a left hamstring injury, which will see medical substitute Tom Powell activated for the second half.
The Bulldogs also activated their medical substitute in the final minutes of the first half, with Mitch Wallis coming on for an injured Riley Garcia.
The Bulldogs held a 26-point lead at halftime.
Q1: Ugly Easter scene as putrid Roos become Dogs’ bunnies
North Melbourne has been slammed for a “lack of commitment” after a woeful opening quarter in its marquee Good Friday match against the Western Bulldogs.
After suffering a 128-point loss to the Bulldogs in last year’s Good Friday clash, the Kangaroos trailed by 45 points at the first change at Marvel Stadium after an uncompetitive start.
The opening term was little more than a training drill for the Bulldogs, who led the disposal count at the first change 113-53 and had 36 uncontested marks to just 13.
Bulldogs small forward Cody Weightman kicked four goals in the first quarter alone – three more than the Kangaroos who managed just one major as Jaidyn Stephenson played on from a free kick.
The Kangaroos had just nine inside-50s for the quarter and their pressure factor was a lowly 172 – well below the AFL average of 180.
“There’s a lack of commitment from the players. It’s frighteningly bad,” AFL great Jason Dunstall said in commentary for Triple M.
Another hefty loss would raise further questions about whether North Melbourne deserves to keep its only marquee match of the year.
The Kangaroos also lost their Good Friday match to Essendon in 2019 by 58 points.
Originally published as AFL round five, 2022: North Melbourne v Western Bulldogs news, scores and reaction
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