AFL 2024: Bailey Dale enormous as Bulldogs bounce back from horror week with demolition of St Kilda
All the pressure was on the Bulldogs heading into Thursday’s clash with St Kilda. Bailey Dale reveals how he and his coach were able to bite back at the outside noise.
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A circuit breaker and a free mind allowed Bailey Dale to deliver a career-best night as he detailed how Luke Beveridge told his Bulldogs to block out the noise before Thursday’s thumping win.
Dale was relegated to the sub for last weekend’s poor loss to Essendon but said he knew what he needed to improve to find his form.
Dale hasn’t been the only All-Australian on the outer in selection this year, with Caleb Daniel sent to the reserves and Jack Macrae only just finding his feet in the seniors again.
Beveridge said the uncertainty around selection was part of “challenging everyone to take their games to new levels” and that Dale had a “crazy” game.
“He was unbelievably influential,” the coach said.
While he wasn’t thrilled to be left out of the starting 22 last week, Dale used the call to bounce back.
“Even for me last week, I probably got dropped to that sub and needed that little circuit breaker. Some people like it, some people don’t but he is the coach so he makes the calls,” he said.
The 2021 All-Australian bounced back by cutting swathe through St Kilda, collecting a career-high 39 disposals in the 60-point thrashing.
Dale felt he was out of form because his penetrating kick wasn’t hitting targets to its usual level but he responded by going at 92 per cent efficiency with the ball on Thursday night and kicking a long goal.
“When you find yourself out of the side you are thinking ‘what is going on?’. I knew what I needed to work on, I was really clear with that and it was good to go out there and free the mind and get on the end of a few which is always night,” he said.
“I probably didn’t use the ball as well as I would have liked over the first five weeks, probably a bit inconsistent there and just that was probably the main thing and getting in right spots defensively so I felt like I did that.
“I had a focus to drive my legs this week and use up a bit more space, didn’t want to rush myself and I felt like I did that.
“When you run at the game, things open up and it’s a lot easier to find an option.”
The win over St Kilda put the Dogs to an even 3-3 record with a trip to Fremantle coming next week.
After the dismal loss to Essendon, Dale said the group heard some of the external noise but Beveridge galvanised his team to block it out.
“Obviously off the back of last week we had a real message about sticking together and trying to block out that noise as much as we could,” he said.
“I think the group really did that. We harnessed that and we put in a good performance which is great.”
Dogs respond as Saints provide low point of Ross’ second era
Put simply, the Saints failed their own test.
Ross Lyon entered the week dirty about his side’s first quarters, having kicked 1.7 to 8.5 in the two weeks before Thursday’s crunch test against the Western Bulldogs.
As the Dogs jogged their way into goal after goal in the opening term, he would have been dirtier than a music festival porta potty.
It wasn’t so much that they couldn’t get their hands on it, it was more that the Saints basically refused to hit targets in the opening term.
Finally making a break past the centre line, a scrubbed kick that bounced in front of Jack Higgins as the siren sounded summed it up.
At one stage, the Saints led the clanger count 21-8 and six of the Dogs’ seven first-term goals came from turnover as Cody Weightman’s class saw the Bulldogs lead by 35 points at the first change.
Sure, the Saints were coming off a five-day break but this was the clear low point of Lyon’s second era in charge.
Lyon said the Saints’ 60-point meltdown against the Western Bulldogs was “not us” as he urged his players to prove the defeat was an aberration.
“We’ve got to prove it’s an aberration and that there were a lot of mitigating circumstances that really challenged us.
“If anyone can say that’s typical of us, I’ll defy them strongly and really fight to the last breath to say it’s not true.”
Only a goal after the siren saved this from being the biggest losing margin in Lyon’s 151 games as coach of the Saints.
The Dogs that played like fluffy Pomeranians last week turned into beefed up bull terriers, collecting 17 more marks and 23 more uncontested possessions to dominate the first term.
By the end of the night, the Dogs had 74 more marks in their tally.
It must have been a slap in the face to the talk from the St Kilda coaches all week.
“We’re really disappointed with the way we started that game (last week) and we were lucky to be that close in the end,” Saints footy boss David Misson told SEN pre-game.
He later declared the opening quarter would see “a fierce response”.
“I’m looking forward to the first quarter because we have been so disappointed with ours the last couple of weeks,” he said.
Disappointment was one of many emotions Saints fans felt at quarter-time.
If the heat was on Luke Beveridge heading into Thursday night, he gladly transferred it in that opening 30 minutes.
Beveridge stuck to his guns during the week and he stuck to them on game night, keeping Jack Macrae largely out of the centre square and injecting Ed Richards into the middle with Tom Liberatore out and Ryley Sanders wearing the sub vest.
Anyone calling for Aaron Naughton to play in defence will be shouted down by his equal career-best six goal haul, and recalled Rory Lobb wasn’t too bad either.
The Bulldogs put 12 goals on the board by half-time – before Thursday, the Saints were yet to concede more than a dozen during an entire match this year.
A 49-point lead at the main break presented an evisceration of everything St Kilda stands for – stout defence, hard run and competitiveness.
It was a half of a side that shouldn’t be playing finals this year.
Perhaps last season’s top-eight finish surprised for a reason.
The Saints, led by president Andrew Bassat, preached patience during the week and declared the club was sticking to a long term plan.
Certainly the short-term needs a lot of work with too many Saints simply not good enough with ball in hand and the Max King-less forward line was both starved both for supply and toothless when it got there.
Surely only half of the total crowd of 26,719 remained in their seats by the final siren.
The breezy win under the roof bought plenty more time for Beveridge.
The rocket put up Bailey Dale by making him the starting sub last week paid off in spades as he launched attacks constantly and ended the match with 39 disposals at 92 per cent efficiency and an astronomical 874 metres gained.
Credit where it’s due – the Dogs were under the pump big time this week and pushed their backs off the wall.
New goalkicking coach Brad Johnson had some help from golfer Lucas Herbert during the week and whatever they did looked sensational as the Dogs booted 19.10.
This was the Dogs at their very best, spreading hard from the midfield, kicking well into attack and rebounding with speed.
Those who consistently pushed that the Dogs have the talent to compete with the very best only need to point to the tape of that first half.
SCOREBOARD
SAINTS 1.0, 4.3, 5.7, 9.10 (64)
BULLDOGS 7.1, 12.4, 17.6, 19.10 (124)
BOURKE’S BEST Saints: Hill, Windhager, Ross, Bonner. Bulldogs: Dale, Naughton, Treloar, Jones, Johannisen, Macrae, English, Weightman.
GOALS Saints: Membrey 3, Caminiti, Jones, Garcia, Wilson, Owens, Sharman. Bulldogs: Naughton 6, Weightman 3, Bontempelli 3, Darcy, Dale, Treloar, West, English, Gallagher, Macrae.
UMPIRES Findlay, Gavine, Nicholls, Power
INJURIES Saints: Butler (hamstring). Bulldogs: Gallagher (corked quad).
CROWD 26,719 at Marvel Stadium
BOURKE’S VOTES
3. Bailey Dale (WB)
2. Aaron Naughton (WB)
1. Adam Treloar (WB)
Originally published as AFL 2024: Bailey Dale enormous as Bulldogs bounce back from horror week with demolition of St Kilda
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