The shock losses that could cost your team in 2019

Losing to Gold Coast in Round 3 could cost the Bulldogs a finals spot, but every team has had at least one ‘what the?’ defeat in 2019. Here are the worst from every side.

Gold Coast players celebrate their win against the Western Bulldogs.

If the Bulldogs miss the finals they will look back on the first six rounds and wonder what went wrong.

In that time the Dogs lost to Carlton, Fremantle and Gold Coast (really — look it up) before hitting their straps in the back end of the season to make them a dangerous floater on the eve of September.

But they aren’t the only club with an embarrassing 2019 defeat in the closet. In fact, every team has suffered losses that have us scratching our heads in hindsight.

Believe it or not, Gold Coast defeated the Bulldogs this season.

It’s an illustration of the amazing evenness of the competition and the vagaries of the fixture.

Even if every team played each other once on neutral venues there’s no way to account for the fact that the Suns were a far better team in April than they are now, or unpredictable slumps by the likes of Port Adelaide and Fremantle.

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Then there are injuries, coach sackings (as Doggy fans) and other factors (snow!) that make form so unpredictable.

Here are the 2019 losses your team will regret the most. Did we miss one? Leave a comment below.

ADELAIDE

R1 — Lost to Hawthorn by 32

R4 — Lost to Kangaroos by 12

R16 — Lost to Port Adelaide by 57

R19 — Lost to Carlton by 27

The Crows were expected to deliver big things after a disappointing 2018, but their shock loss to the Hawks at home perhaps symbolizes their 2019 season. They rebounded strongly following a slip-up at Marvel Stadium against the Roos, pushing themselves into the eight until they dropped a series of games in the space of a month. Their Showdown thumping against their arch rivals would have stung, but back-to-back defeats to Essendon – despite leading by five goals – and the Blues have left them in an agonizing position ahead of the final round.

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BRISBANE LIONS

R4 — Lost to Essendon by 47

R5 — Lost to Collingwood by 62

R10 — Lost to Fremantle by 1

R12 — Lost to Carlton by 15

The Lions have got little wrong in 2019, but two big losses on the trot early in the year made us question their credibility. A Michael Walters behind after the siren (the second week in a row he won a game off his own boot) denied them another four points in one of the best finishes of the season. It seems impossible to think the Lions bowed out to the Patrick Cripps-inspired Blues just 11 weeks ago, especially when they burst out of the blocks with the first six goals. Since then, it’s been smooth sailing for the maroon, blue and gold.

Ed Curnow shut down Lachie Neale after a hot first half in Round 12.

CARLTON

R4 — Lost to Gold Coast by 2

R10 — Lost to St Kilda by 13

R16 — Lost to Melbourne by 5

Carlton was the laughing stock of the competition in Round 4 after a Jack Bowes snap in the dying seconds rolled through to crush the Blues’ faithful. The young side had several opportunities to ice the game but comical errors – most notably not having a player on the goal line – saw the Blues squander a game they should have won. The Blues nearly pulled off an outstanding comeback against the Dees later in the year, snatching the lead late before Jayden Hunt kicked truly with under two minutes left on the clock.

COLLINGWOOD

R11 — Lost to Fremantle by 4

R14 — Lost to North Melbourne by 44

R16 — Lost to Hawthorn by 4

R18 — Lost to GWS by 47

Collingwood appeared to be below their best towards the halfway mark and their luck ran out against the Dockers. Michael Walters’ clutch goal after the siren sunk the Pies on their home turf, before the revitalised Roos gave them a welcome wake-up call. They can be excused for their big loss at Giants Stadium although they would much rather play GWS on current form.

Michael Walters celebrates his matchwinner against Collingwood.

ESSENDON

R2 — Lost to St Kilda by 11

R8 — Lost to Sydney by 5

R20 — Lost to Port Adelaide by 59

R21 — Lost to Bulldogs by 104

The Bombers’ inconsistency has defined them in recent years and 2019 was no exception, losing several games that they entered as handy favourites – their loss to the Saints arguably the most surprising of the lot. Essendon’s Round 8 defeat in Sydney could have gone the other way if a free kick was awarded for Dane Rampe’s infamous “post-gate” climb on the siren. John Worsfold’s men then finished the season in true Bombers fashion with monster losses to Port Adelaide and Bulldogs back-to-back.

Dane Rampe scales the goal post as David Myers attempts a post-siren shot at goal.

FREMANTLE

R2 — Lost to Gold Coast by 3

R14 — Lost to Melbourne by 14

R21 — Lost to St Kilda by 3

Like the Bombers, the Dockers have also been a tipster’s nightmare this season. A shocking display at Metricon Stadium brought up Gold Coast’s first win, and they were overrun by the Dees and Saints in the last quarter. They led St Kilda until the dying stages, Josh Bruce slotting a set shot with forty seconds to go to take the lead.

GEELONG

R14 — Lost to Port Adelaide by 11

R16 — Lost to Bulldogs by 16

R18 — Lost to Hawthorn by 24

R20 — Lost to Fremantle by 34

The Power continued Geelong’s bye curse in Round 14, with a series of slip-ups in the back half of the year costing the Cats their prized top spot – which they could reclaim this weekend. Unlikely defeats to the Bulldogs and Dockers put further dints in their armour, while their nailbiter last Saturday will go down as an opportunity missed after leading the Lions by 17 points with five minutes to go.

GOLD COAST

R1 — Lost to St Kilda by 1

R8 — Lost to Melbourne by 1

R13 — Lost to St Kilda by 4

R19 — Lost to Essendon by 10

Gold Coast’s dismal record wouldn’t look so bad if they’d turned some of these narrow defeats into wins. Their loss to Melbourne was their most embarrassing, leading by a goal with 50 seconds to go before two quick centre clearances saw the Dees snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The Suns managed not one, but two losses by under a goal to the Saints, and conceding three goals in red time to the Bombers will go down as another lost opportunity.

GWS GIANTS

R5 — Lost to Fremantle by 24

R12 — Lost to Adelaide by 21

R21 — Lost to Hawthorn by 56

R22 — Lost to Bulldogs by 61

Fremantle pulled off one of the upsets of the season when they knocked off the Giants in Canberra. And when it rained, it snowed (quite literally) in Round 21 after their second loss to the Hawks in trying conditions at the same venue. But their thumping defeat on the weekend was perhaps their very worst for the year, failing to kick a goal after halftime for the second consecutive week.

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The Giants didn’t warm to the Antarctic conditions against Hawthorn in Canberra.

HAWTHORN

R4 — Lost to St Kilda by 5

R7 — Lost to Melbourne by 5

R14 — Lost to Sydney by 19

R20 — Lost to North Melbourne by 22

R15 — Lost to west Coast by 6

Nothing too disgraceful here but four losses to bottom-seven teams have made it just about impossible to make the finals. The Hawks were four goals up against St Kilda before being run down, kicked 9.17 against a much more accurate West Coast and booted the first give goals against North Melbourne. Melbourne was in much better form when these teams met with a late Jeff Garlett tackle on Luke Breust leading to a decisive Jay Lockhart goal.

MELBOURNE

R5 — Lost to St Kilda by 40

R11 — Lost to Adelaide by 2

Melbourne fans can’t even lament losses to bottom-four teams for their stunning fall this season, with the Dees taking care of Carlton and Gold Coast - only just, claiming a one-point win against the Suns in Round 8. But they did get thumped by the Saints and led all day against Adelaide before a wide Sam Weideman shot condemned fans to more pain.

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NORTH MELBOURNE

R1 — Lost to Fremantle by 82

R9 — Lost to Sydney by 5

R17 — Lost to Essendon by 5

R18 — Lost to Brisbane by 12

The Kangaroos’ loss to Fremantle in Round 1 remains one of the weirdest results of the season. It was the Dockers’ highest score of 2019 — by a fair margin (they only cracked three figures in two other matches) — and may have been the beginning of the end for Brad Scott. The Bombers and Lions games could have gone the other way with a bit of luck at the death.

PORT ADELAIDE

R10 — Lost to Hawthorn by 31

R13 — Lost to Fremantle by 21

R22 — Lost to North Melbourne by 86

Who would want to be a Port Adelaide fan? The Power has mixed stirring wins (West Coast, Geelong, Adelaide) with eye-popping defeats all season. But none can compare with the sheer lack of fight in a 14-goal annihilation at the hands of the Kangaroos when the Power had everything to play for. Bizarre.

Aaron Naughton was unstoppable against the Tigers.

RICHMOND

R7 — Lost to Bulldogs by 47

R11 — Lost to North Melbourne by 37

The Tigers suffered heavy losses against Collingwood, GWS and Geelong when their injury crisis was at its height, but defeats to the Dogs and North Melbourne could be the most costly. They were completely outplayed in both matches at Marvel Stadium — a venue Richmond thankfully doesn’t have to visit again in 2019.

ST KILDA

R3 — Lost to Fremantle by 5

R16 — Lost to North Melbourne by 39

R22 — Lost to Carlton by 10

The Saints have tasted both sides of the ledger in a rollercoaster season, surviving at the death against Gold Coast twice but losing to Fremantle in a close one and the Blues last weekend after leading for most of the day. Still, if they can get up this weekend 10 wins for the season isn’t a bad result.

SYDNEY

R4 — Lost to Melbourne by 22

R17 — Lost to Carlton by 7

R18 — Lost to Fremantle by 1

R20 — Lost to GWS Giants by 2

The Swans have had a tough year but would have been higher than 15th on the ladder if they didn’t cough up games to Melbourne and Carlton. They can consider themselves unlucky in a slug-fest against the Dockers and the Battle of the Bridge, when Sam Reid was denied a potentially matchwinning free kick in front of goal in the dying stages.

The umpire called “play on” after this contest. Picture: Phil Hillyard

WEST COAST

R5 — Lost to Port Adelaide by 42

R12 — Lost to Sydney by 45

R17 — Lost to Collingwood by 1

Lance Franklin has played only nine games this year, and his best of them came against the Eagles in Round 12 when he booted five goals at the SCG. West Coast somehow went scoreless for 45 minutes against Collingwood but the biggest head-scratcher was a home defeat to Port Adelaide when they were outscored nine goals to two in the first half.

WESTERN BULLDOGS

R3 — Lost to Gold Coast by 5

R5 — Lost to Carlton by 44

R6 — Lost to Fremantle by 19

R18 — Lost to St Kilda by 27

If the Dogs miss the eight they can rue a poor — and downright bizarre, looking at the respective teams’ form now — start to the season. Fans can also blame bad timing, copping Gold Coast when they were up and about (a long time ago) and Carlton, North Melbourne and St Kilda just after they gave their coach the boot. Still, losing to the Suns at home?