St Kilda too fast and too powerful for wayward Western Bulldogs
St Kilda pumped up the pace at Marvel Stadium to leave the Bulldogs gasping for air in their wake.
St Kilda members turned up to the Dromana Drive-In to watch their side’s clash with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday night.
They got something on the big screen that more closely resembled Fast & Furious.
After a Round 1 performance in which the Saints’ ran out of gas at halftime against North Melbourne, the foot was to the floor for a full four quarters against the Bulldogs.
After opening up a commanding 23-point halftime lead, this time the margin only grew as the match went on and the Saints got home comfortably 14.4 (88) to 7.7 (49).
In Brett Ratten’s first full season as coach, this was a different looking team to 2019.
The Saints had pace to burn, brought pressure, had some added grunt and made the most of their opportunities forward.
They took the game on at every opportunity – and took the Bulldogs to the cleaners.
The recruits fired, too.
Former Swan Zak Jones was among the best afield through the midfield, Brad Hill had some nice moments, Dougal Howard kept Aaron Naughton relatively quiet and Dan Butler had some serious scoreboard impact.
Add in impressive performances from rising young stars Jack Billings and Jade Gresham and this was a statement game from a side intent on climbing the ladder this season.
It was a very different story for the Bulldogs, whose fans watching at home experienced something that more resembled a horror movie, with added shades of Groundhog Day.
The team rated by Champion Data to have the second-best playing list in the competition this season was made to look second-rate once again, days after being accused of becoming a team a team with a “softish mentality”.
The Bulldogs lost the contested possession count 123-93 against Collingwood in Round 1 – and went into halftime against the Saints trailing the count 68-53.
The long-term problem of inaccurate goalkicking also reared its ugly head once again.
At the 10-minute-mark of the second quarter, the Saints led 32-16 despite the two teams having the same number of shots on goal.
A 0-2 start in a 17-game season is far from ideal for Luke Beveridge and his team – especially with a clash against top-four fancy Greater Western Sydney next on the cards.
HERALD SUN
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