Australian Football

Match Report

Brendan McCartney notched up his first win as coach of the Western Bulldogs, while his Demons’ counterpart Mark Neeld was still left searching for that elusive victory after the Dogs' slogging 21-point triumph. The win allowed the Bulldogs to avoid their worst start to the season in 10 years. This game was the Jim Stynes’ tribute match to pay a final respect to the late Demons' president, who died six weeks earlier. Both sides came into this game winless in 2012, and the game panned out accordingly. The skill levels were generally very sloppy as the teams willed themselves to every contest. The Dogs took a narrow lead into quarter-time and held sway by a two- or three-goal margin for the rest of the game. Mitch Wallis, son of Bulldog legend Steve, was rewarded for an impressive game by receiving the Round 4 NAB Rising Star nomination. Demons recruit Mitch Clark caused a collective gasp around the entire MCG when he landed directly on his neck after a marking contest. He lay motionless on the turf before walking off the ground and then being taken to hospital. Scans cleared the former Lion of any damage.

GOALS:

Melbourne: Bate 2, Davey 2, Clark, Bail, Watts, Moloney, Morton

Western Bulldogs: Cooney 2, Grant 2, Giansiracusa 2, Griffen, Dahlhaus, Sherman, Jones, Djerrkura, Roughead, Wallis
 


BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Melbourne: Magner, Bate, Jones, Rivers, Howe
Western Bulldogs: Cross, Murphy, Dahlhaus, Cooney, Djerrkura

BEST - THE AGE
Melbourne: Moloney, Jamar, Magner, Bate, Rivers, Jones
Western Bulldogs: Dahlhaus, Murphy, Cooney, Cross, Wallis, Djerrkura

COACHES COMMENTS
Mark Neeld (Melb): We're trying to put in some building blocks in the way we play, some standards at training, teaching basic defensive principles. That's where we're at. We're certainly looking long-term [with] all the decisions we're making.

Brendan McCartney (WB): To come through an environment where we did a lot of things right, then we lost our way through the basics of the game, and then go through the experience of having some older wiser heads bring them back into the moment and realign the team ... that's really important for our footy club.

Umpires: Wenn, Armstrong, Bannister