Australian Football

Match Report

The Western Bulldogs caused the first major boil-over of the season at Docklands on Saturday, thrashing pre-season premiers Brisbane by 68 points. The Dogs had entered 2013 as popular picks to finish in the bottom four, with some pundits even suggesting that they would finish below Gold Coast or GWS - or both - this year. But the Bulldogs burst out of the blocks with a six-goal-to-zero first term and were hardly threatened from that point. The Lions made things worse for themselves by missing some easy shots in that quarter but the blow-out was largely due to the Dogs superior clearance work in the centre of the ground.

Brisbane looked like briefly getting back in the game early in the second quarter, kicking the first two goals. But the Bulldogs settled again to kick four of the next five, and they went into the major break with a 37-point buffer. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Bulldogs' game was their crisp use of the ball, particularly by foot. The 2012 Bulldogs had been panned for their lamentable foot-skills, but the 2013 version showed vast improvement in that area. That aspect was epitomised particularly by Brett Goodes, making his debut at age 29. Goodes played largely as a loose man in defence and his pinpoint passing enabled the Dogs to launch many counterattacks. Goodes could not have dreamed of a better first game.

The third quarter saw the Dogs stamp their authority on the match even more firmly, with season players Giansiracusa and Shaun Higgins excellent in attack and stand-in captain (in the absence of Matthew Boyd) slotting a miracle goal from the boundary line.

The intensity eased in the final term but the Dogs still came out in front for the quarter and they ended the match more than 11 goals ahead. A 19-goal return was a huge boost for the Dogs, given that they had struggled to kick even a competitive score on the second half of 2012.

Another remarkable aspect of the result was that these two sides had met in the final round of 2012, with winning by 67 points. In what was essentially the next official match for both sides, the result was turned on its head.

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa, Higgins 3; Cordy, Dahlhaus, Murphy, Dickson, Griffen 2; Jones, Johannisen, Cooney
Brisbane: Brown, Rich, Beams, Martin, Cornelius, Redden, Moloney

BEST - THE AGE
Western Bulldogs: Goodes, Dickson, Lower, Minson, Johannisen, Higgins, Murphy, Roughead
Brisbane: Rockliff, Moloney.

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Western Bulldogs: Goodes, Griffen, Minson, Murphy, Liberatore, Higgins, Lower, Roughead, Stevens
Brisbane: Rockliff, Moloney, Karnezis

COACHES' COMMENTS
Brendan McCartney (WB): It was a really good performance and our footy club are very proud of our supporters today. I'm sure our supporters, our fans, enjoyed what they saw. We may play like that at other times this year but we mightn't be able to get the job done because you might run into clubs that are a lot more mature.

Michael Voss (Bris): You've got to give complete credit to the way the Dogs went about it. They kept us under pressure the whole night. We couldn't win at the contest. Our centre square bounce was a major issue for us the whole night.

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Stevens (hamstring)
Brisbane: Maguire (leg)

SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Koby Stevens (hamstring) replaced by Clay Smith at three-quarter time
Brisbane: Matt Maguire (leg) replaced by Claye Beams in the third quarter

REPORTS
Pearce Hanley (Brisbane) reported in the 2nd quarter for rough conduct

UMPIRES: Margetts, Dalgleish, Findlay