Where to now for the Western Bulldogs after disappointing loss to Geelong?
When the going got tough, the Western Bulldogs fell away against Geelong. It sums up the club’s season that has been two steps forward and one step back.
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Two steps forward, one step back.
The Western Bulldogs were the buzz team last week after knocking off reigning premier Melbourne.
That result had the football world fearing another late charge towards September from a side that has made the big dance from the lower rungs of the top-eight before.
But a little bit of the gloss came off the Bulldogs on Saturday night, with ladder-leader Geelong making Luke Beveridge’s side look more like pretenders than contenders.
Generally speaking, a 28-point loss to Geelong at GMHBA Stadium could be considered a brave effort.
The Cats are hard to beat on their home turf – even more so when their fearless captain Joel Selwood is celebrating a major milestone.
The Bulldogs started as well as Beveridge could have asked for, kicking the first four goals of the game to take the crowd out of the equation.
However, there were some worrying signs for the Bulldogs over the next two-and-a-half quarters.
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Between the 19-minute-mark of the first quarter and the 14-minute-mark of the last quarter, the visitors kicked only two goals.
Geelong piled on 13 majors during the same period.
When the going got tough, the Bulldogs fell away.
Beveridge described the third quarter as a “power play” by the ladder-leaders, who flexed their collective muscle to kick 8.2 (50) to 0.3 (3) in a scintillating 30 minutes of football.
The Cats lifted their physicality and intensity around the ball and the Bulldogs’ much-heralded midfield were left in the dust.
Geelong won the contested possession count for the term 35-28, had the upper hand in clearances 12-7 and dominated inside-50s 18-8.
Time and again, the Cats’ midfielders waltzed out of centre bounces and put the ball down the throat of their forwards who - alarmingly for the Bulldogs - converted goals from 44 per cent of their side’s entries for the quarter.
That ease of exits from the middle was helped by a Bulldogs’ pressure rating of 156 during the third quarter – well below the AFL average of 180.
And when the Bulldogs were able to win the ball back, they often coughed it up.
Geelong outscored them by 32 points for the night when it came to scores from turnovers.
It was not the first time the Bulldogs have struggled to halt an opposition side’s momentum, as Beveridge pointed out.
Lapses within games have been a common theme this year and are the reason why a side which made the Grand Final in 2021 holds a 10-9 record this season.
“We’ve beaten Melbourne last week and I think tonight was probably one of our best opportunities to beat Geelong at Geelong – and that’s the shame of it,” Beveridge said.
“Ultimately, they showed how good a team they are and our guys were on top of things for a little while and then got taught a lesson in powerful, contested footy for a period of the game where our energy came off. The game leaves clues as to what you need and what we’ve needed over the year is consistency over four quarters, which we haven’t been able to establish for long enough.”
The problem for the Bulldogs is there is not much time left to learn those lessons.
As it stands, they are a game outside the top-eight with three games to go against Fremantle, Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn.
At a minimum, two more wins will be needed to secure another September berth.
“We’ll pick ourselves up and we’ll still feel positive about our opportunity against Fremantle this week and we’ll go to work on trying to win our 11th game and see where that places us,” Beveridge said.
SLUGGISH CATS FLICK SWITCH AS DOGS TRY TO CRASH SELWOOD PARTY
It was billed as reigning Cats and underdogs — and eventuated accordingly.
But for just over a half at GMHBA Stadium, it looked anything but.
Geelong had been given an old-fashioned lesson in the first quarter, at one stage trailing by 26 points as the Western Bulldogs played exemplary footy to torch the flag favourites.
An arm wrestle ensued in the second term as Patrick Dangerfield lifted the Cats into the contest, but only as far as four goals six behinds, the team’s lowest halftime score of the season.
But from nowhere, the Cats then piled on eight goals two in the third term — their best quarter of the year numerically — while keeping the visitors goal-less.
Game over.
The party for skipper Joel Selwood’s 350th milestone could proceed as planned with blushes spared as the Dogs’ inability to go four full quarters with the top teams haunted them again as they ceded their berth in the top eight with a 28-point loss.
The turning point that will be surely become a talking point came in the opening minutes of the third term when Tyson Stengle ultimately goaled from a relayed free-kick.
Jeremy Cameron’s kick seconds earlier had gone straight to Tim English, but he had to cede possession to Stengle because the umpire had ruled Cameron was bumped illegally by Josh Bruce after disposing of the ball.
Replays showed the call to be soft at best and awful at worst, but regardless of your vantage point, the tide turned inexorably after that moment.
Minutes later, Tom Hawkins became just the 13th player in league history to kick at least 50 goals in eight separate seasons and the momentum had turned.
And Dogs fans had scarcely discussed their bad luck when Hawkins (again), Cam Guthrie and Brad Close had each goaled to not only grab the lead, but ultimately set up a winning break.
The Cats dominated the middle of the ground, with brothers Cam and Zach Guthrie electric and running their midfield opponents — perhaps with the exception of Ed Richards — off the park.
The eight goals came from 18 inside-50 entries, yet the ailing Bullies could only lay eight tackles for the term to show their drop-off in pressure.
There was a 50-minute gap between the Dogs’ sixth and seventh goals and only a spectacular mark and goal from Josh Dunkley in the dying minutes that gave travelling fans anything to cheer about after what had been such a bright opening.
Earlier, the Dogs opened at fever-pitch intensity, dominating the midfield and shutting down all Geelong exit avenues from defence with Bailey Dale sensational.
The possession count was 40-12 in the opening eight minutes to the visitors, who looked crisp and were sufficiently disciplined not to kick it into the normal Cat half-back traps, most notably away from the returning Tom Stewart.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, fresh from his breakout five-goal blast in Round 19, booted the first of four in succession — and it was only 10 inspired minutes from Dangerfield that brought Geelong into the match.
I’M A JOEL MAN
If there was meant to be some milestone love for Joel Selwood, somebody forgot to send the script to the Bulldogs.
Selwood, in his 350th game, earnt the never-enviable task of some close attention from Tom Liberatore in the first term, then couldn’t find a touch in the first 15 minutes.
The Cats’ longest-serving skipper finally got a kick, but it sailed out on the full under intense pressure.
LOST IN SPACE
A potentially hall of fame entry into the “how did we butcher that?” files when Tom Hawkins ultimately turned into a point what for 20 seconds appeared a certain Geelong goal in the second quarter.
The Kardinia Park faithful screamed throughout as the Cats dutifully used a series of overlaps from half-back before Tyson Stengle centred to Patrick Dangerfield 25m out from goal.
In trying to do the “team thing”, Dangerfield lobbed a handball over the closing full-back, only to have the ball bounce and push Hawkins out of the corridor, from where he gathered cleanly, but then sprayed a left-footed dribble kick wide.
IF YOU DON’T MIND
As the Cats’ intensity rose in the second term to claw back into the contest, the crowd certainly found its voice, much of it predictably directed at the men in yellow.
A high-pressure scramble across half-back for the Dogs eventually resulted in a scrambled kick that was marked near the point of the centre square by Marcus Bontempelli, who duly relieved the pressure.
But that kick came under a hail of boos from Cat fans whose angst at the umpires was sent to boiling point when Jed Bews was accidentally shepherded from that contest by the controlling umpire backing out of the contest.
SCOREBOARD
GEELONG 1.2 4.6 12.8 14.10 (94)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.3 6.5 6.8 9.12 (66)
BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, C.Guthrie, De Koning, Z.Guthrie, Smith, Close.
Western Bulldogs: Richards, Dale, Liberatore, Dunkley.
GOALS
Geelong: Hawkins (2), C.Guthrie (2), Rohan (2), Stengle (2), Cameron (2), Dangerfield, Smith, Miers, Close.
Western Bulldogs: Weightman (3), Dunkley (2), Ugle-Hagan (2), Johannisen, English.
INJURIES
Geelong: Rohan (concussion).
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli (upper leg).
CROWD
22,106
VENUE
GMHBA Stadium, Geelong
VOTES
3: Dangerfield (GEE)
2: C.Guthrie (GEE)
1: Richards (WB)
Scott lauds Danger’s return to best
Geelong coach Chris Scott had his belief that the Bulldogs are a hidden threat confirmed at GMHBA Stadium.
He hopes his players will emerge from the challenge better steeled for September pressure.
Scott said the tenacious Dogs were sensational in establishing a 26-point lead early, but was delighted his charges could reverse the trend as the match wore on, eventually easing down for a 28-point victory.
“The opposition was really good early and we expected it. If all you did was look through their names, you’d be intimidated and expect them to be a real handful and that’s what played out early,” Scott said.
“I thought we were a little fumbly early and didn’t handle their pressure very well and … we’d only had four (forward-50) entries late in the first quarter.
“But we’ve been tested over the last month or so … and for the most part we should have faith in our system.
“It must be confidence building for the players that when the game’s going against us, we’ve got the capacity to change it.”
Scott was delighted in champion midfielder Patrick Dangerfield’s return to his best, with a hard-nosed and game-turning 26 touches, including a critical goal.
“He was super in there against some great players,” Scott said.
“He just looked powerful and he did change that game in the third quarter in particular.”
Scott said forward Gary Rohan did not appear to suffer any serious damage from a head knock he received in the third term — a blow which eventually forced him from the ground and paved the path to play for medisub Brandan Parfitt to enter the game in the final term.
Parfitt was lively when he came on, but could still play in Geelong’s VFL game on Sunday.
But Scott said he would be spared that run, instead doing some running work after the match to regain his conditioning.
Extreme lengths to dry soaked stadium ahead of Joel’s 350th
Geelong has brought in a helicopter to help dry the GMHBA stadium turf ahead of tonight’s blockbuster clash against Western Bulldogs.
The helicopter arrived shortly after 10am and hovered low over the grass to help dry-out a section of soaked ground on the north-western side of the ground.
New turf has also been laid to help combat some wear and tear from recent events at the ground including a Foo Fighter’s concert.
The Kardinia Park Stadium Trust has tried to proactively manage the issue amid a particularly cold and wet winter to help keep the turf in the best possible condition.
Dry and sunny conditions are forecast today.
The Cats have also used their second oval at Deakin University for training across multiple football programs including their AFLW team.
While there was some concern about the ground earlier in the week, it will host tonight’s Geelong - Bulldogs match as the Bulldogs attempt to keep touch with the eight.
Geelong will tonight honour inspirational captain Joel Selwood in his 350th match.
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