Bulldogs deliver Essendon a brutal reality check in record-breaking night
Bailey Dale rewrote the record books as the Western Bulldogs handed Essendon one of the most one-sided beltings of the 2025 season.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Western Bulldogs have delivered Essendon a brutal 91-point reality check in the most one-sided encounter we’ve seen in 2025.
Remarkably, the margin could have been bigger given the 18.19 (127) to 5.6 (36) result – making the Dogs now the only side to record two 90-point plus beltings so far this season.
It was a one-way training run for the Dogs from the opening bounce as they opened up a 10-goal to one half time buffer to effectively seal the match.
FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
Bailey Dale set a new club record for the most disposals, overtaking the 47 set by both Ryan Griffin and Jack Macrae to finish with 49.
He also set an AFL record for 2025 with 1016 metres gained.
Rhylee West also had a career-best night with four goals from his 19 disposals and at one point hit the Bombers with an NBA-inspired ‘too small’ taunt.
The only sour note was a hamstring injury to Arty Jones who was subbed out before half time.
For the Bombers, there were shades of their 2019 disaster against the Dogs when they managed just the one goal to half time.
To their credit, Essendon continued to fight – but still recorded their second worst ever total in a loss to the Bulldogs.
The 91-point win highlighted just how dominant the Dogs are across the ground as they won every facet of the contest.
The AFL’s number one ranked scoring side in the past five matches showed exactly why they are so dangerous – eclipsing their average of 112 points.
Fox Footy’s Nathan Buckley even described the side as the AFL’s “Globetrotters”.
In the demolition of the Dons, there were two standouts – Dale racking up a club-best 49 disposals and the work of the “re-cast” West.
The makeshift forward finished with a team-high four goals in an eye catching display.
“He’s so combative, you’ve got to love how he goes about it,” Buckley praised.
“He would be a frustrated midfielder – someone who wasn’t able to make it and push into the midfield.
“But he’s been re-cast and he’s accepted that role. He became a stopper … now he’s a stopper, a competitor and a goal scorer.
“He’s been exceptional.”
Essendon went in to Saturday night’s contest with five wins from their past six games and appeared ready to test themselves against a strong Bulldogs outfit.
But what we got instead was an Essendon that simply rolled over and failed to stop the Bulldogs’ charge.
Brownlow Medallist Buckley said the 91-point belting sent a “fairly clear message”.
“You come up against the best sides in the competition and you get an audit of your own game,” Buckley explained.
“Essendon, despite what they’ve put together in the last six weeks, have been given a fairly clear message that there’s still a lot of work to do in most phases.
“That will be the licking of the wounds during the week and working out, ‘OK, where do we go from here?’.”
Originally published as Bulldogs deliver Essendon a brutal reality check in record-breaking night
AFL family rocked by second brother’s death
The AFL has been rocked once again by the news one of the game’s famous families has lost a second member in a matter of months.
Early Tackle: Putrid Dons confirm pretender status
By half-time on Saturday night, the conversation surrounding the Bombers was about whether they were a bottom four team rather than a potential top eight side, writes SCOTT GULLAN.