Western Bulldogs hold off Melbourne after an insane performance from Josh Dunkley
Josh Dunkley produced a masterclass to lift the Western Bulldogs to within a game of the top eight after they beat a gallant Melbourne. Plus Luke Beveridge on his future and Simon Goodwin
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It has been a curious journey since their premiership almost three years ago.
But the Western Bulldogs have kept their finals chances alive despite surrendering complete ascendancy in the ruck in the eight-point win over Melbourne.
The Dogs’ fourth win from their past five matches leaves Luke Beveridge’s men only one game outside the eight, heading into Sunday’s clash against St Kilda.
They look like one of the most dangerous sides out of the top-eight, the Dogs, with a blue-ribbon midfield, and a key forward combination of Aaron Naughton and Josh Schache growing in confidence.
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Taylor Duryea set up play across halfback, Lachie Hunter had a day out and Josh Dunkley convincingly won the battle with Demons’ onballer Clayton Oliver.
And they did it without Toby McLean who hurt his hamstring before halftime.
Superstar Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn ensured the Demons dominated the hit-outs (52-20) and the clearances (41 to 29) but the Dogs have shown they don’t need to win the tap to prevail.
HOT DOG
Josh Dunkley has stamped his credentials as one of the competition’s best ball hunters this season.
Up against his newly-drafted brother Kyle, the Bulldogs’ onballer went berserk again in the first half, gathering 22 possessions and nine tackles to finish with 39 disposals, two goals and a mammoth 202 SuperCoach points.
The blue-collar midfielder is a vacuum at ground level, and he kicked a crucial goal to put the Dogs five points up midway through the last term, with Kyle in his ear.
But his younger sibling briefly took the spotlight when he latched on to a low mark in the second term, and went back and slotted the 45m goal.
It would have been a bittersweet moment for his older brother who has a wry smile on his face standing the mark as the ball sailed over his head through for a goal.
GOLDEN OLDIE
The temptation would be there to give Jordan Lewis’s spot to an emerging youngster in the final rounds.
With finals out of the equation, the Demons already have an eye on next season after shuffling their assistant coaches’ roles around.
But coach Simon Goodwin gave Lewis a surprise tagging job on Marcus Bontempelli and it worked early, as he kept the superstar onballer to five disposals at halftime.
Bontempelli hurt his left ankle before half time but sprung to life in the third quarter to help keep the Dogs’ noses in front.
The Dogs had more run in the last quarter, in particular, as Bailey Smith drilled one home on the run from 45m and Hunter landed a beautiful checkside on the boundary.
Lewis has spent the bulk of the past two seasons on the half back line, but has been returned to the midfield over the past fortnight.
STRAIGHTEN THE ARROWS
He’s got the surfy-style long blond locks, but young Dog Roarke Smith knows where the goals are.
On another day of shocking conversion for the Dogs, the 16-gamer nailed two majors from long range, one from near the boundary in the first term and a second one after a gutsy mark 45m out in the third.
But while the Sunbury product was precise, the Dogs almost shot themselves in the foot in the third term.
Like so often this season, the young Dogs had the ball camped in their forward line for the bulk of the stanza but failed to capitalise on goals.
They sprayed one goal eight behinds for a six-point lead at the last change, keeping the door ajar for the Demons.
The Dogs’ woeful goal kicking has been one of their biggest flaws this season.
SCOREBOARD
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 6.5 7.13 10.14 (74)
MELBOURNE 3.2 6.4 7.7 9.12 (66)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: J. Dunkley 2, Lloyd 2, R. Smith 2, Richards, Schache, Hunter, B. Smith
Melbourne: Petty 3, Fritsch 2, Hunt, Lewis, Petracca, K. Dunkley
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Dunkley, Hunter, Duryea, Macrae, Schache, Lloyd, Bontempelli
Melbourne: Gawn, Viney, Salem, Petty, Lewis, May
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: McLean (hamstring)
Melbourne: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Dalgleish, Williamson, Mitchell
Official crowd: 26,781 at Marvel Stadium
JAY CLARK’S VOTES
3 — Josh Dunkley
2 — Lachie Hunter
1 — Taylor Duryea
BEVO LOVES COURAGEOUS DOGS, LIFE AT THE KENNEL
Western Bulldogs’ coach Luke Beveridge has hailed his team’s ability to weather an early storm and remain in the finals hunt this season.
The Dogs loom as a considerable threat to rivals in the run home after brushing aside Melbourne by eight points at Marvel Stadium.
It is their fourth win in the past five games, lifting the Dogs into 10th spot, one game outside the top eight.
And any hopes rival clubs had of poaching Beveridge have taken a hit with the premiership coach revealing he was in talks with the Dogs about a new deal beyond next season.
Beveridge said the Dogs had developed a new “lease of life” late in the season and were determined to make the most of their chances.
“Everyone is aware of your position and where you are on the ladder, I’m not going to sit here and say I don’t look at it, I do,” Beveridge said.
“You never know what can happen, that is a stream of thought I’ve always been on as a coach.
“Our players have really developed and moved on and as a group there is some chemistry there now.
“It’s a real credit to our players to stay in it, because it is a long year and now it gives you a new lease of life when, maybe at some point, others fall away.
“We have got to make sure we mitigate the risk of that (falling away) happening to us.”
Beveridge lauded red-hot midfielder Josh Dunkley who played arguably the best game of his career to cement a spot in the engine room and the bravery of Marcus Bontempelli.
Bontempelli hurt his left ankle but played on in the second half after the Dogs had already lost McLean in the first term.
“He (Bontempelli) has got a knock on a sprain, so he is obviously pretty sore,” he said.
“So that’s the epitome of courage for your team and wanting and willing to finish the game.
“We would have been in strife if we were only playing with 20. He was tremendous.”
GOODWIN: THIS WILL FUEL US
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says the adversity the Demons have faced this season can help shape their attempts to climb the ladder next season.
The Demons remain anchored to 16th spot on the ladder in a remarkable fall from grace from last year’s preliminary final finish.
After another eight-point loss to Western Bulldogs, Goodwin said the whole club must use the lessons learned from this year to fuel them in 2020.
“There has been some challenges, hunger is not one of them,” Goodwin said.
“But what we are going through right now will build a hunger right throughout our footy club and one that will stay with us for a while.
“I think adversity sometimes is a great thing to go through and experience, for me personally as a coach, the playing group, for our whole club.
“We had four years of lineal growth and now we have hit a patch which has been difficult and it has been a tough 16 weeks.
“But in this period we have learned a lot as well. In a lot of ways I feel like we are coming out of it and I think the next six weeks are really important.”
The Demons were without key forwards Sam Weideman and Tom McDonald but were encouraged by Harrison Petty’s three goals in a new forward role.
“He has been playing as a defender for the past four years of his career and he went forward and kicked three goals and looks like a promising talent for us,” he said.
Jordan Lewis also helped keep Marcus Bontempelli quiet before half time.
Goodwin said there was no chance the club would move veteran Lewis out of the senior side unnecessarily to gift games to a younger player late in the season.
“Every game we play we are trying to win and we are trying to build a winning culture,” he said.
“If Jordan Lewis is in good form, he is going to play. He is a fantastic person for this footy club and right at the moment he is doing a really good job for the team.
“So there is no way even if we can’t make finals, we are going to give players (games) based on giving them experience.”
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