More top eight intrigue as Dogs win in the mud; Magpies ‘right on the edge’ of being ‘losers’

WESTERN BULLDOGS 13.17 (95) d GEELONG 7.6 (48)

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (left) and Aaron Naughton of the Bulldogs celebrate.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Serious Stumble For Geelong

In this craziest of seasons, Geelong’s surge into the top four has dramatically stalled.
After losing by 47 points at GMHBA Stadium, they sit precariously in fourth and will most likely slip into the bottom half of the eight by the end of this round.
A win would have seen them jump to second on Saturday night.
In contrast, the Bulldogs were all but written off after a dismal showing against Port Adelaide in round 17. They were insipid and few could see them making the eight. Luke Beveridge called the result a nightmare and said that he was trying desperately to forget the memory.
Since then they have beaten second-placed Carlton and third-placed Geelong. On the back of that fortnight, the Bulldogs are shaping as a serious September contender, sitting outside the eight with a positive ledger of 10-8.
They have done so by shedding the inconsistent tag and becoming a team of desperate Dogs.
Geelong can rebound against the Kangaroos in Hobart next Saturday, while the Bulldogs face another true test by travelling to Sydney on Sunday to tackle the Swans.

Dogs Reign In The Rain

On a soggy night, the most telling factor came from unexpected sources.
The victorious Western Bulldogs had 49 more handballs than the Cats. That is not usually the recipe for winning wet-weather football.
Last week against Collingwood, Geelong controlled the ball, having 70 more marks than their opponents.
Against the Dogs, they could not get hold of the ball. The Bulldogs scrapped and bustled around the contest and were able to continually gain forward territory.
They did so through their on ball brigade of Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli (27 possessions), Tom Liberatore (23 possessions), Ed Richards (28 possessions) and Adam Treloar (31 possessions).
Treloar was huge after pulling out of last week’s game at the last minute with a sore calf. He kicked three goals.
Tom Stewart and Max Holmes were solid for the Cats, and Patrick Dangerfield flashed in and out, but there were far too few other contributors.
Gryan Miers was quiet, Brad Close did not see much of the ball and Mark Blicavs did not find himself in the action at any stage of the night.
Key Bulldog defenders Buku Khamis and Rory Lobb had complete control of Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan.
At the other end of the ground, the Bulldogs were able to play three tall forwards - Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy - to great effect. They were mobile, well coordinated and fought hard in the air and on the ground.

Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats handballs under pressure from Sam Darcy of the Bulldogs.Credit: Getty Images

Richards Revels In Midfield

The evolution of Ed Richards as a midfielder continues to pay dividends for the Western Bulldogs.
With Bailey Smith on the long-term injury list, Jack Macrae flirting with form and Josh Dunkley almost two years out of the kennel, Richards has stepped into the breach.
The former halfback has been a great mix of dash and grunt.
He can get down and dirty like Tom Liberatore or bust the game open with his raking left foot like Bontempelli.
Last week he played a significant part in the Western Bulldogs being able to subdue the influence of Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh.
On Saturday night in Geelong, he outshone Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Stewart.
At 25 years of age and 119 games into his career, Richards has arrived as a significant player for the Bulldogs.

KEY STATS

Thanks so much for joining us this evening and throughout this afternoon.

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Bye for now.

Cats coach Chris Scott spoke to the media post game.

Chris, how do you assess that performance?

We had a really bad night and that was clear from early in the game. The opposition were good. We look at them and see the amount of talent they have and hoped that it is not going to come together against you. It is symptomatic of what we are seeing across the season. If you are off, you can lose to anyone and if the opposition are really good, you are going to find yourself under pressure but I thought was an uncharacteristic performance. If that happens regularly, you just become a bad team. I do not think that is us at the moment. Right from the start of the game, we were not getting what we wanted, what we talked about. And even when we did get some looks later in the game, again, it was uncharacteristic that we do not make the most of them.

Cats coach Chris Scott.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Was there one thing that stood out that was not working? The Dogs got you around the ball a fair bit.

A little bit, they are the best at scoring from stoppages. We knew that. When you are a bit off against a team like that that will obviously hurt you. It cost us field position early. And in the conditions, which, we normally play pretty well. It just look like they played better than us. From early in the game. That is disappointing. You don’t like to be outplayed in the adjustment that is provided by this condition. And that I thought, really late in the game, we end up trying to score and then you look really bad when that does not come off so leave that to one side. When the game was a bit more on the line we had chances going and we just kicked it to them. Again, it is like, unusual. We will do our best not to drop a bundle.

It look like you started the game with a foothold in the third quarter, missing a few opportunities, did you tweak anything at the start of the term?

We did at halftime, we changed a few things. We had a few guys that were off and some of our best players that we tried to get into the game a bit more with a few positional changes. It looks good early in the quarter. Again, even then, it looked like we had some ascendancy and we just gave the ball back. Again, I will say it about the fourth time, it seemed uncharacteristic going into what looked like good looks into what looked like good looks into a forward line. We just pick them out almost as if we were trying.

Losing Tom Atkins before the game, one of your better weather plays.

He is good in those conditions so that was disappointing but we had so many players off, I’m not sure that Tom could have made up for it.

The Bulldogs are the first team since 1970 to keep Geelong scoreless in the first term and final term in the same match.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae has refused to concede his side’s AFL premiership defence is over despite taking a hammer blow from Hawthorn in the heaviest defeat of his tenure so far.

The Magpies were comprehensively outplayed from the outset in Saturday’s 20.13 (133) to 9.13 (67) loss at the MCG, beaten up around the ball and made to look slow by the energetic Hawks.

Jack Crisp of the Magpies handballs.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

It left Collingwood (8-8-2) sitting 13th on the ladder and in serious danger of missing the finals as they look towards a tough run home.

They face Richmond next round before meetings with Carlton, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, who all started round 19 inside the top eight.

“We’re still breathing here. Nothing’s finished,” McRae said.

“I guarantee you we’ll walk in on Monday and we’re getting to work.

“Nothing’s finished, there’s no end point right now.

“We’re on this journey of discovery of a new version of us and exploration.

“We’re still getting better every day, so where’s the end point on that?

“This is a different version of us potentially - maybe we have got to go through this to be a better version of us.”

McRae felt there were many areas where Hawthorn made his side look second-rate but insisted the Magpies’ shortcomings - in areas such as contest, commitment and organisation - could be fixed quickly.

Despite wet conditions, Collingwood conceded the highest score of McRae’s tenure as Hawthorn piled on seven goals to one in the first half and another eight majors in the final term.

“That is not a representation of us. That was pretty ugly at times,” McRae said.

“We’re not going to enjoy watching some of that back, because that’s not who we want to be.”

McRae didn’t believe his players gave up, but conceded the performance flew in the face of the culture he has tried to build at the club.

“We’re a team that’s spent the better part of two-and-a-half years building a culture about being ‘winners’,” McRae said.

“We lost today and we were right on the edge of being ‘losers’.

“You can lose and still be ‘winners’, and we were right on the edge.”

Collingwood lost Nathan Kreuger to concussion but could welcome back Beau McCreery and Lachie Schultz from injuries against Richmond next round.

AAP

PORT ADELAIDE 16.20 (116) d RICHMOND 11.9 (75)

Charlie Dixon of the Power celebrates a goal.Credit: AFL Photos

Charlie’s Back

Charlie Dixon wound back the clock and perhaps set the wheels in motion to play on again for Port Adelaide next year after notching his best haul since 2021.
Dixon, who turns 34 in September, looked set for the scrapheap mid-season, demoted to the SANFL after three straight goalless weeks for the Power before his nightmare continued with a three-match suspension.
Injuries to Jeremy Finlayson and Todd Marshall paved the path for Dixon to again spearhead Port’s attack and the veteran responded by booting 4.2.
Dixon’s powerhouse contested marking gave Noah Balta problems and was a key difference between the two sides.
In doing so, Dixon, in his 150th game in Power colours passed the 350-goal mark across his career, which suddenly looks far from over.

Nank Yanked

After closing the gap to eight points at three-quarter-time, Richmond pulled a shock by substituting captain Toby Nankervis out of the match.
Tyler Sonsie was activated at the start the fourth with the Tigers confirming Nankervis as a tactical measure.
Nankervis had a marginally edge in the ruck battle in the first half before having his colours narrowly lowered by Jordon Sweet in the third stanza.
“A tactical error in my view by the Tigers,” Fox Footy’s David King said on commentary.
For three quarters, the Power’s supremacy at the coalface - Dan Houston, Ollie Wines and Connor Rozee prominent - was offset by the Tigers’ speed and slickness on the outside.
Without their skipper, Richmond lost their way in the last quarter, Port boasting huge advantages in hitouts (15-5), clearances (10-3) and inside-50s (16-7).
In the end, only errant goal-kicking prevented the Power from turning the arm wrestle into a total rout.

Connor Cut Down

Power captain Connor Rozee’s challenging season with injury took another turn when he hobbled off Adelaide Oval in the fourth term with a hip-pointer issue.
After retreating to the rooms to receive treatment, Rozee had some run-throughs but didn’t participate any further.
The skipper’s relentlessness at stoppage and classy finishing had him high among Port’s best before the issue, the severity of which is to be determined.
The Power need Rozee, who earlier this season was sidelined with a hamstring injury, to be fit and firing for the taxing road ahead, with difficult clashes with Carlton (away), Sydney (home) and Melbourne (away) on the immediate horizon.

Shai Bolton of the Tigers celebrates a goal.Credit: Getty Images

KEY STATS

WESTERN BULLDOGS 13.17 (95) d GEELONG 7.6 (48)

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (left) and Aaron Naughton of the Bulldogs celebrate.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images

Serious Stumble For Geelong

In this craziest of seasons, Geelong’s surge into the top four has dramatically stalled.
After losing by 47 points at GMHBA Stadium, they sit precariously in fourth and will most likely slip into the bottom half of the eight by the end of this round.
A win would have seen them jump to second on Saturday night.
In contrast, the Bulldogs were all but written off after a dismal showing against Port Adelaide in round 17. They were insipid and few could see them making the eight. Luke Beveridge called the result a nightmare and said that he was trying desperately to forget the memory.
Since then they have beaten second-placed Carlton and third-placed Geelong. On the back of that fortnight, the Bulldogs are shaping as a serious September contender, sitting outside the eight with a positive ledger of 10-8.
They have done so by shedding the inconsistent tag and becoming a team of desperate Dogs.
Geelong can rebound against the Kangaroos in Hobart next Saturday, while the Bulldogs face another true test by travelling to Sydney on Sunday to tackle the Swans.

Dogs Reign In The Rain

On a soggy night, the most telling factor came from unexpected sources.
The victorious Western Bulldogs had 49 more handballs than the Cats. That is not usually the recipe for winning wet-weather football.
Last week against Collingwood, Geelong controlled the ball, having 70 more marks than their opponents.
Against the Dogs, they could not get hold of the ball. The Bulldogs scrapped and bustled around the contest and were able to continually gain forward territory.
They did so through their on ball brigade of Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli (27 possessions), Tom Liberatore (23 possessions), Ed Richards (28 possessions) and Adam Treloar (31 possessions).
Treloar was huge after pulling out of last week’s game at the last minute with a sore calf. He kicked three goals.
Tom Stewart and Max Holmes were solid for the Cats, and Patrick Dangerfield flashed in and out, but there were far too few other contributors.
Gryan Miers was quiet, Brad Close did not see much of the ball and Mark Blicavs did not find himself in the action at any stage of the night.
Key Bulldog defenders Buku Khamis and Rory Lobb had complete control of Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan.
At the other end of the ground, the Bulldogs were able to play three tall forwards - Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Aaron Naughton and Sam Darcy - to great effect. They were mobile, well coordinated and fought hard in the air and on the ground.

Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats handballs under pressure from Sam Darcy of the Bulldogs.Credit: Getty Images

Richards Revels In Midfield

The evolution of Ed Richards as a midfielder continues to pay dividends for the Western Bulldogs.
With Bailey Smith on the long-term injury list, Jack Macrae flirting with form and Josh Dunkley almost two years out of the kennel, Richards has stepped into the breach.
The former halfback has been a great mix of dash and grunt.
He can get down and dirty like Tom Liberatore or bust the game open with his raking left foot like Bontempelli.
Last week he played a significant part in the Western Bulldogs being able to subdue the influence of Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh.
On Saturday night in Geelong, he outshone Patrick Dangerfield and Tom Stewart.
At 25 years of age and 119 games into his career, Richards has arrived as a significant player for the Bulldogs.

KEY STATS

Bulldogs midfielder Ed Richards revealed that he advised Cats skipper Tom Stewart to get the GMHBA Stadium surface a rest after tonight’s match.

“We didn’t think an AFL ground would be like this,” Richards told Channel Seven.

“But it happens. I was talking to Tommy in the middle of the game. I said you need this ground to have a bit of a breather. It looks like it has been thrashed.”

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan described it as being like “running in a paddock” while speaking to Fox Footy.

Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli spoke Channel Seven post game.

Talk about the importance to come here and really dismantle the Cats on their home deck.

We have not done it too often. Is always a really hard place to win. I think we came with the right attitude. The conditions in the end force you to play a certain way. A very scrappy efforts. We had the energy and momentum early. Just super effort by the boys. We kept playing a dirty game.

Marcus Bontempelli of the Bulldogs handballs.Credit: Getty Images

The last two weeks two massive scalps the Blues and other Cats. What kind of belief is that if you about September?

We still have to get there. It is a close competition. We have to prove a lot to ourselves and we know what we are capable of and as you know this competition every week presents a new challenge. This is one of the biggest ones we have faced in a while. A good win last week that we have not necessarily been able to back them up this season and this puts us one step forward but the challenge is to keep repeating it no matter what. Home or away.

You came in with a tall line-up and given the conditions it could have been a risk but it paid off unbelievably. The talls up forward and back they played a wonderful game.

Especially when most of them are good below the knees. That is one thing you need to be in the modern game. In the air and on the ground. Darcy is probably the one who is still growing into his body still. He gives you great aerial presence. I thought they all worked quite well tonight. At times in recent history, they have clung together and at the drop of the ball would have been done. They are doing a lot of good work getting space between each other and isolating a bit better and I feel like that is helping the front half game.

Huge win from the Bulldogs who not only took the points but were the best team on the ground for all four quarters.

It’s very rare you see a side do this at GMHBA Stadium.

The Cats have some work to do but you would back them to regain their touch.

Both the Bulldogs and Hawks have sent a message today about their potency in the run to the finals.