Western Bulldogs come from behind to edge Richmond in a thriller at Etihad Stadium

WITHOUT Jake Stringer and Josh Dunkley, the Western Bulldogs have produced another thrilling comeback to edge Richmond at Etihad Stadium.

Marcus Bontempelli celebrates a goal in the Bulldogs’ win over Richmond.

WHAT the ruck was going on?

That was the question some pondered early on Saturday night as Josh Dunkley (190cm) and Lin Jong (188cm) shared centre square duties along with Tom Boyd at Etihad Stadium.

They were up against Richmond’s Croatian debutant Ivan Soldo (204cm, 106kg), cousin of cult hero Ivan Maric, and down 1-20 in hit-outs at quarter-time.

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The Dogs were up in clearances, but down 33-7 where it counted.

As the Western Bulldogs overran an impressive Richmond despite losing Jake Stringer (knee) and Dunkley (shoulder), premiership coach Luke Beveridge preferred midfielders in the middle ahead of recognised ruckman Tom Campbell and teenager Tim English, who lined up in the VFL curtain-raiser.

The gritty Dogs eventually held on, an controversial deliberate out of bounds paid against Jayden Short deep in attack with 23 seconds remaining and then a big grab by Marcus Adams securing another thrilling win.

Ivan Soldo rucks against Josh Dunkley. Picture: Michael Klein

After five upsets, a Round 6 favourite finally prevailed. At times it was Soldo and Todd Elton against Dunkley and Jong.

Hardly Polly Farmer and Gary Dempsey going at it, admittedly with No.1 men Jordan Roughead (hamstring) and Toby Nankervis (suspension) unavailable.

This is by no means a question of Beveridge, the master tactician who took the Bulldogs to the promised land last season.

He is always ahead of the game. So at quarter-time it made you wonder, what is the future for ruckmen in our game?

Instead of taps down the throat, it was a game of sharking for the Dogs.

But convention eventually won out, with Boyd rucking solo in the second half, and the scoreboard began to swing the Bulldogs’ way.

Jayden Short fumbles the ball over the line, it was called deliberate out of bounds.

Boyd was sensational, bringing the Dogs to life, and was denied a contested grab in front of goal in the tense dying minutes.

But with the third man-up contentiously banned – eliminating a key tactic in the Dogs’ flag triumph – trial and error continues.

This season we’ve seen Geelong opt to not play a ruckman against Brayden Preuss, while in Beveridge’s seventh game in charge he duelled Jong and Brett Goodes against Aaron Sandilands.

But as Boyd worked into the game and superstar Jack Riewoldt faded out of the game, the premier’s got their groove back.

Most Dogs enjoy a lead. But Beveridge’s Dogs are making a habit of giving them away, and then getting off the leash.

On Saturday night a 32-point deficit was converted into a five-point victory, after the Dogs reigned in margins of 23 points (Sydney), 29 points (North Melbourne) and 38 points (Brisbane Lions) to win this season.

Jake Stringer suffered a knee injury in the third quarter.

It was an uncontested frenzy in the final term.

As Trent Cotchin, Anthony Miles and Josh Caddy faded, Clay Smith booted two goals and set up Lachie Hunter for an 11-point buffer after trailing all night.

Todd Elton played his best game, but will have nightmares after fumbling a mark across the goalline that was set to be a goal.

The creativity of Marcus Bontempelli and Boyd at halfback and then the craft of Johanissen in the middle gifted Clay Smith an open goal.

Suddenly, it was a one-point game. Minutes later, Smith put the Dogs in front.

The Dogs’ habit of coming from behind is not ideal, but it’s also the first week of May.

Jack Riewoldt kicked four goals including his 500th.

Richmond’s first quarter was ideal, a stunning turnaround from last week’s flat finish.

Dustin Martin burst into an open goal to begin the charge and Jack Riewoldt was at the heart of it, assisting Martin and booting two of his own.

The Tigers’ tackling was hot and as a result the Dogs’ foot skills were not. Adams gave the ball back on the wing when he didn’t have to and after Richmond surged forward, Dan Butler trapped the footy like a tennis ball and curled through perhaps his best goal yet.

It was Richmond’s polish and precision against the Dogs’ fumbles and fiddles in the first half. But run won out, and when it counted only one club had it.

VOTES

3. Marcus Bontempelli (WB)

2. Dustin Martin (Rich)

1. Tom Boyd (WB)

BEST:

WESTERN BULLDOGS: M.Bontempelli, T.Boyd, J.Johannisen, L.Dahlhaus, L.Hunter, J.Macrae, E.Wood, F.Roberts, C.Smith

RICHMOND: D.Martin, S.Grigg, J.Riewoldt, B.Houli, J.Caddy, B.Ellis, K.Lambert