Western Bulldogs through to the Grand Final after thrashing Port Adelaide

This year’s AFL grand finalists are locked in after the Western Bulldogs produced a stunning upset in their preliminary final.

The Bont will be playing with a knee injury. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The Western Bulldogs are through to the AFL grand final after defeating Port Adelaide by 71 points in their preliminary final on Saturday night.

The Dogs will face Melbourne in a fortnight as they aim to win their second premiership in six years.

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The Bulldogs came in to the clash as huge underdogs but started like a house on fire against the Power, kicking the first five goals of the game in an incredible 10-minute opening burst.

After Bailey Smith opened the scoring inside the first minute of the game, Laitham Vandermeer, Aaron Naughton, Mitch Hannan, Marcus Bontempelli kicked more goals.

An impressive snap to midfielder Ollie Wines got Port Adelaide on the board but the Power was unable to stop the relentless Dogs’ momentum.

Hannan and Smith each kicked their second goals to extend the Bulldogs’ lead and leave Power fans at the Adelaide Oval speechless.

The Bulldogs intensity at the contest was exceptional and they swarmed to the contest as soon as the ball went to ground.

The Dogs were underdogs but demolished Port Adelaide. (Photo by Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“I haven’t seen Port Adelaide this rattled for a long, long time,” Bulldogs great and 2008 Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney said on AFL Nation.

The Bulldogs also did an impressive job of limiting the influence of star Port Adelaide defender Aliir Aliir.

Forwards Josh Schache and Tim English fought hard to make a contest with Aliir, who wasn’t been able to take intercept marks as usual.

The Dogs continued to hit the scoreboard and pile on the pain for Port Adelaide in the second term, kicking five goals to open up a huge 58-point lead at halftime.

Everything went right for the Bulldogs but nothing worked for the Power, who only kicked six goals for the game.

Absolutely pitiful from Port. This is worse than the Cats last night. #AFLPowerDogs

— Niall Seewang (@N_Seewang) September 11, 2021

Startling #AFLPowerDogs

Dogs seem to be having a training run in Adelaide after all

— Alister Nicholson (@AlisterNicho) September 11, 2021

This is crazy. #AFLPowerDogs

— Dave Hughes (@DHughesy) September 11, 2021

A classy snap from Josh Schache and a running goal to Adam Treloar kept the momentum going for the Bulldogs in the third quarter.

Port Adelaide looked to make a mini-run early in the term with goals to Todd Marshall and Charlie Dixon.

But all the energy was sapped out of their attempt at a comeback when apparent goals to Marshall and Steven Motlop were ruled to be touched by Bulldogs players, summing up Port’s dreadful night.

The fizz was well and truly out of the game by the last quarter but the Bulldogs kicked four more goals to stamp their authority on the match.

In another exceptional performance for the Bulldogs, Bailey Smith kicked four goals, including a sensational long bomb from 55 metres out on the boundary line.

The only minor concern for the Bulldogs was a hamstring injury to youngster Laitham Vandermeer, who was replaced by medical substitute Anthony Scott late in the game.

Power fans were fed up with the performance and were spotted leaving the Adelaide Oval after the first half.

The loss will be heartbreaking for Port Adelaide, who also fell one step short of making the grand final last year when they lost narrowly to Richmond in the preliminary final.

The Bulldogs were on fire against Port Adelaide. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

When they take on Melbourne in the grand final, the Bulldogs will be looking to emulate their heroics that saw them claim the 2016 premiership where they won four consecutive finals after finishing seventh on the ladder.

Although the Bulldogs were second on the ladder for most of this year, they have had to do it the hard way in the finals after a narrow loss to Port Adelaide in the last round of the season meant they slipped out of the top four.

The Bulldogs’ finals campaign has been ultra-impressive as they won their third final in a row away from home as the Covid outbreak in Victoria has sent them zigzagging around the country.

They were even denied a training run in Adelaide due to strict Covid restrictions around their movements.

Under the current AFL finals format, only the Bulldogs side of 2016, the GWS Giants in 2019 and the Bulldogs this year have made the grand final after finishing the home and away season outside the top four.

Originally published as Western Bulldogs through to the Grand Final after thrashing Port Adelaide