Australian Football

Match Report

The GWS Giants have passed another stern test, comfortably accounting for the Western Bulldogs at the Sydney Showground on Sunday. The Giants have now won six games in a row and there would be few who would doubt their claims of being a legitimate threat in 2016. The win was set up on the back of two withering bursts, a seven-minute one at the start of the match which yielded three goals to nil, and a similar nine-minute run in the second term which produced five goals to nil. Outside of those two bursts, the Bulldogs were very competitive but were never able to string more than two goals together, ultimately falling short by 25 points. 

It took only 44 second for the Giants to hit the scoreboard, with Jeremy Cameron getting on the end of a fast centre-break and kicking accurately. That sparked a wave of Giant attacks and further majors to Lachie Whitfield and Cameron had GWS ahead 3.2 to 0.0 after just seven minutes. The Bulldogs have become adept at halting runs under coach Luke Beveridge, however, and reorganised themselves to halt the charge and kick three of the last four goals of the term and trail by just five points at quarter time. Two of the Dogs' goals were kicked by Lin Jong but he was reported during the term for a crude bump on Matt Buntine that saw Buntine miss the remainder of the match. 

A free kick and 50-metre penalty saw Jake Stringer goal early in the second term to put the Bulldogs ahead for the first time in the match but Jeremy Cameron's fourth goal three minutes sparked GWS's second burst of goals. Dylan Shiel, Rhys Palmer, Tom Scully and Toby Greene all joined in the goal-fest and the Giants were suddenly 29 points clear midway through the term. Again the Bulldogs regrouped and a thumping goal from outside 50 and another major from Mitch Wallis saw them back within 17 points at the half. 

It was catch-up football for the rest of the match for the Bulldogs. Two moments of brilliance early in the third quarter from Stevie Johnson had the margin out to 29 points once more at the 12-minute mark, and after Toby McLean marked and scored the Dogs' only goal of the term at the 13-minute mark, the Giants added two more majors through Stephen Coniglio and Toby Greene to lead by 34 points going into the final term. 

The Dogs had the better of the final term but the gap was too great to bridge and GWS held on to win by 25 points and maintain its hold on third place on the ladder. While the Bulldogs could claim that they were missing five of their best six backline players and Jack Redpath and Tom Boyd in attack, the Giants could equally claim that they were two players short for much off this game, with Tim Mohr limping of with a hamstring injury soon after Buntine's game was brought to a halt. Should these two sides meet again in September (or perhaps even October), it promises to be an interesting affair. 

Ex-Buldogs Callan Ward played a huge part in the win, with 11 tackles and 30 disposals, while Marcus Bontempelli playing another fine game for the Bulldogs, collecting over 30 touches for the third week running.

Another test awaits the Giants on Saturday night, when they will take on Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval. The Bulldogs (fifth, 6-3) will look to get back on the winners' list against Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday. 

GOALS
GWS: Cameron 5; Greene 3; Johnson 2; Coniglio, Shiel, Whitfield, Palmer, Scully
Western Bulldogs: Jong, Dickson, McLean 2; Wallis, Hunter, Stringer, Campbell

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
GWS: Ward, Shaw, Coniglio, Scully, Greene, Cameron, Williams
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Dahlhaus, Picken, Hunter, Macrae

BEST - SMH.COM.AU
GWS: Coniglio Ward Cameron Shaw Shiel Greene Scully Patfull Williams Haynes Mumford
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli Dahlhaus Macrae Wallis Hunter Wood McLean Picken

INJURIES
GWS: Buntine (concussion), Mohr (hamstring)
Western Bulldogs: Nil

REPORTS: Lin Jong (Bulldogs) for forceful front-on contact on Matt Buntine (Giants) in the first quarter.

UMPIRES: Stevic, Kamolins, Meredith

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Dennis Cometti, Basil Zempilas, Leigh Matthews, Jude Bolton