Round 11 2016

W.Bulldogs v West Coast
Round 11, 2016

Cole was a late inclusion. Photo: aflphotos.com.au

Date

Sun, 5 June 2016 (3.20pm EST)

Venue

Docklands

Attendance

28,769

Result

Lost by 8

Score

WB 12.11.82 - 11.9.75 WCE

Brownlow

3 L.Hunter (WB)
2 M.Bontempelli (WB)
1 J.Macrae (WB)

Ladder

7th

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West Coast ended up on the wrong side of the ledger in a game played between two premiership contenders at a finals-like intensity, to continue their lean run outside of WA. The Bulldogs pushed the margin out to 21 in the final term before three late Eagles goals gave them a sniff of an unlikely comeback, but they were unable to bridge the gap. Matt Priddis led West Coast with 27 touches and 12 tackles, and captain Shannon Hurn had 21 kicks.

Summary

		1/4 time		1/2 time		3/4 time		Final
Western Bulldogs		4.1.25		6.6.42		10.7.67		12.11.83
West Coast		4.4.28		5.4.34		8.6.54		11.9.75

Goals: Darling, Hill, LeCras, Yeo 2, Hutchings, Kennedy, Masten

Best: Priddis, Shuey, Hurn, Gaff, Redden

Injuries: Naitanui (broken nose), Wellingham (cut head)

Milestones: Hill 150th AFL game

Named sides

	West Coast				Bulldogs
B:	5.Sheppard	16.MacKenzie	31.Schofield	B:	5.M.Boyd	33.Adams	1.Suckling
HB:	6.Yeo	20.McGovern	25.Hurn	HB:	24.Biggs	38.Morris	10.Wood
C:	7.Masten	11.Priddis	34.Hutchings	C:	7.Hunter	21.Liberatore	29.Dickson
HF:	33.Hill	27.Darling	8.Redden	HF:	42.Picken	9.Stringer	6.Dahlhaus
F:	29.Lycett	17.Kennedy	2.LeCras	F:	15.Campbell	43.Redpath	35.Daniel
R:	9.Naitanui	3.Gaff	13.Shuey	R:	23.Roughead	11.Macrae	4.Bontempelli
I:	12.Wellingham	14.Duggan	15.Cripps	I:	3.Wallis	16.McLean	18.Roberts
	26.Butler				20.Dunkley
E:	23.Jetta	28.Cole	47.Lucas	E:	22.Honeychurch	27.Minson	34.Williams

In: Gaff, Yeo

Out: Jetta, Cole

Late change: (WCE) Cole for McGovern (illness); (WB) Williams for Wood (hamstring tightness)

Quarter by quarter

Both sides made late changes, with McGovern withdrawing due to illness and replaced by second-gamer Cole, while acting Bulldogs captain Easton Wood missed with hamstring tightness and was replaced by another youngster, Bailey Williams. The match began under Docklands' closed roof.

First quarter

Some early fumbles in the backline by the Eagles' defence led to a mark in close and goal to Jack Redpath. Shuey had a shot from a tight angle but scored only a behind. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on the wing and Cripps found Yeo in the goalsquare for the visitors' first. A quick clearance saw Hill, in his 150th game and against his old side, snap the second shortly afterwards. The Bulldogs responded quickly, again through Redpath who may have got into Cole's back but was paid the mark nonetheless. A penetrating kick inside 50 from Hurn found LeCras who made no mistake. A clever little kick by Cripps found Naitanui who marked just inside 50, but pulled his kick to the left.

West Coast had numbers at a marking contest but Redden's easy shot dribbled through for a behind, and the Bulldogs took the ball straight through the centre corridor to finish with a goal to Jake Stringer. Shuey had a chance to get one back but missed again. An off-balance kick by Hurn found Yeo in the pocket, who centred to Darling who kicked an easy goal. Some slick ball movement by the Dogs gave McLean a chance but he hooked the kick. Josh Dunkley had a set shot from a similar spot and slotted it to bring the margin back to three points. They could have gone ahead at the break but the siren sounded as the ball was heading to a Jake Stringer lead.

Second qurter

A harsh deliberate out-of-bounds call against Butler in the back pocket led to a Stringer goal after he kicked a spectacular banana. Another free against Butler, this time in a a marking contest, gave Redpath a chance at his third but he pushed his kick right. Darling snuck one just inside the post at the other end to give West Coast back the lead. Lachie Hunter had a chance to get it back but his set shot barely scraped through for a behind. Tom Liberatore did much better, sailing through a shot from outside 50 to put the home side up by 5. Redpath pushed a set shot to the right, then Jordan Roughead did the same as the Bulldogs began to dominate play around the ground.

A neat kick from Duggan found Kennedy just inside 50, but his shot from a wide angle was marked on the behind post. West Coast continued to push bt Redden was caught holding the ball in front of goal. Mackenzie rushed a behind as McLean was carried from the ground by trainers, nearly followed by Luke Dahlhaus who was crunched by Redden but played on. West Coast threatened in the last minute but couldn't find a target inside 50, as a Masten kick was smothered into the crowd. The siren sounded with the home team ahead by 8 points.

Third quarter

A quick clearance by Naitanui and gather by Darling led to Yeo's second goal just moments into the term. A running snap by Caleb Daniel went out on the full, keeping the margin at 2 points. The Bulldogs pressed as the tempo increased, ith Shuey laying a couple of strong tackles and Hurn punching through a rushed behind. Cripps sprayed a shot at the other end, but got another chance shortly afterwards and found LeCras inside 50, who made no mistake to give the Eagles the lead. It was short-lived as Hunter took a strong overhead mark and converted.

Some sharp ball movement resulted in a goal to Liam Picken and an 8-point Bulldogs lead. Yeo won a free kick inside 50 after a strong tackle but his kick was narrow, and the Dogs quickly goaled again through Liberatore. It came at a cost though, with Roughead being helped from the field after a bump from Hurn. A strong pack mark from Tom Campbell resulted in another goal as the Bulldogs opened up a 19-point margin. Hill finally answered for the Eagles, to the boos of the home crowd. The visitors trailed by 13 points going into the final term.

Fourth quarter

West Coast pressed early but some poor entries inside 50 worked against them. LeCras had the chance for the first goal of the term but his left-footer dribbled wide. Marcus Bontempelli also sent one left down the other end, then Tory Dickson pushed one right as did Dunkley. Campbell finally put one through the middle to give the home team a 21-point lead, their biggest of the game. That seemed to spark the Eagles, with Darling palming off Matt Suckling and finding Duggan, who missed his set shot. Schofield took a spectacular mark on the head of the diminutive Daniel, but his kick was poor and the Bulldogs were able to create another chance on goal, only for Suckling to miss. The Eagles headed quickly down the other end where Hutchings gathered a loose ball and sent it goalward, the ball taking a friendly bounce to reduce the margin to 15.

Redden won a clearance, then a holding the ball decision and found Kennedy who finally took a mark inside 50. He converted to bring the margin inside single figures. West Coast continued to surge and Darling found Masten who goalled. The Bulldogs answered quickly through Liberatore after Shepherd won a big contest, only to cough up a handball. The Eagles desperately defended as Wellingham was in the hands of the trainers, then sent from the ground under the blood rule. Picken followed him off shortly after, as LeCras waited to take a set shot from 50 inside the final minute. His shot was punched through for a behind, snuffing out any chance of stealing a win.

From the coach

"Yeah, look, we gutsed it out. There were some numbers that were really disturbing, with the contested ball and the way they managed to flick it around and possession rate. We knew that was going to happen. Probably if we had've won we would have stolen it, but it would have been a good steal.

"[The Bulldogs] are elite. They are the best in the comp. They have been doing it all year. There is more than one way to win a game, I suppose, but their way was good today. I think the discrepancy you cop sometimes because you are doing different things to try and win, but when it blows out to that level it felt like we were just hanging on most the day. But the last 10 minutes probably showed that we can lift our intensity. I feel like we’ve got another level we can get to this year. We took a small step forward today, even though we didn’t win.

"Yeah, no doubt we missed some goals. But they missed some as well. You’ve got to give the Doggies credit. They tightened a few things up on us. We had 18 inside 50s in the first quarter which we didn’t capitalise on. We are normally pretty efficient going inside our 50. We won two quarters, but we lost two quarters. In the end, overall, I think they deserved to win."

From the papers

The West Australian

"The ferocity with which both sides attacked the contest was befitting a game that promised to have significant ramifications on top-eight ladder positions.

It was the Bulldogs who proved stronger in that crucial area, wearing down their opponents at the coalface and withstanding a late final-quarter challenge, when the Eagles slammed on three goals in four minutes to get within a kick.

The home side adopted a pack mentality in the middle of the ground and it proved telling in the 12.11 (83) to 11.9 (75) result.

They had 124 more possessions — 39 of them contested — and edged the clearance count 35-30 as they swarmed in numbers and dominated territory."

The Age

"Those expecting a similarly fluid exchange in the second quarter would have been disappointed: the teams might have shared eight goals in the first period, but they could only manage three between them in the next as the Dogs began to impose themselves on their rivals by winning more of the ball in contested areas.

Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer added to his first quarter strike with a banana shot from a free awarded for deliberate out of bounds, and Tom Liberatore booted home from outside 50 metres. Redpath and Jordan Roughead took strong marks inside 50 and had they been more accurate the hosts could have taken a healthier lead than the eight-point margin they did hold to the long break, Darling's long range shot keeping the Eagles in touch.

Simplicity in this game is a virtue, and the Eagles showed how easy it could be right at the start of the third term when Nic Naitanui won the hit out and drove the ball forward to Elliot Yeo, who goaled within 15 seconds of the restart.

The Dogs dug in, however, and slowly began to stretch their rivals."

Herald-Sun

"This was a riveting battle. The Bulldogs huffed and puffed and, despite dominating in general play, struggled to blow the house down against a West Coast side hellbent of shedding the flat track bully tag.

The Dogs had 122 more possessions — including 38 more contested possessions, five more clearances won the inside 50m count. Yet they only led by 11 at halftime after a wasteful 2.5 to 1.0 second term and had inched out to only a 13-point lead at the last change.

When Campbell goaled at the 10 minute mark of the last term the Bulldogs led by 21 points and it appeared game over. Yet for all that dominance they were forced to hang on by the skin of their teeth in the closing minutes when the Eagles got within three points.

But when Liberatore snapped his third goal with four minutes left the door was finally closed on West Coast."

East Perth report

Round 12 (6 June) East Perth were outclassed by traditional rivals West Perth in the WA Derby, falling by 31 points. Jackson Nelson had 27 possessions and Tom Barrass was solid in defence and kicked a goal when shifted forward late in the match.

Appearing for East Perth: Adamson, Barrass, Brophy, Brown, Giles, Jetta, Karpany, Lamb, Lucas, McGinnity, McInnes, Mutimer (*first Royals appearance), Nelson, Tunbridge.
Reserves: Allen, Bennell, Colledge, Partington, Snadden.

Injury list

In the leadup to the match the following players were listed as injured or unavailable:

Player		Injury		Expected duration
Sheed		Knee		3-4 weeks
Nelson		Elbow		Test
Gaff		Concussion		Test
Yeo		Quad		Test
Ellis		Wrist		Test
Waterman*		Glandular fever		Indefinite

References

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2016/11/wb-v-wce

http://afltables.com/afl/stats/games/2016/071820160605.html

http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/news/2016-06-06/full-qa-transcript-adam-simpson