Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Western Bulldogs vs St. Kilda

Scoreboard | Match report | Match statistics

Round: 18   Venue: Docklands   Date: Sat, 23-07-2016 7:25 pm   Crowd: 26,532  
Western Bulldogs 4.2.266.4.409.6.609.6.60 C:  Luke Beveridge
St. Kilda 3.3.217.4.4610.5.6511.9.75 C:  Alan Richardson
  WBULL by 5STK by 6STK by 5STK by 15  
Weather
min temp  7.5°C      max temp  11.6°C
rainfall  0mm    humidity  77%    air pressure  1012.4mb
wind speed 9km/h      wind direction  WNW
Brownlow Medal 3 Nick Riewoldt (STK)2 Sean Dempster (STK)1 Jack Steven (STK)

Match Report

There were two very different emotions displayed by players, coaches and fans after the conclusion of Saturday night's Western Bulldogs v St Kilda game on Saturday night. The St Kilda camp was deservedly and understandably jubilant, with the Saints having triumphed in a tight and tough encounter, defeating the Dogs by 15 points to stay within reach of a place in the finals.

The Bulldogs' camp was distraught, not so much because of the result, which left them placed seventh rather than second on the ladder as they would have been with a win, but because they had lost Mitch Wallis and Jack Redpath for the season to horrendous injuries, Wallis to a double leg fracture and Redpath to a ruptured ACL. With the Dogs having already lost skipper to an ACL earlier in the season, these were bitter blows. 

With the Bulldogs heavily favoured to win, it was St Kilda controlled the first five minutes of the match, the ball spending most of its time on the Saints' forward line for a goal to Tim Membrey and behinds to Shane Savage and Josh Bruce. Clay Smith sparked the Dogs, kicking their first goal from a set shot at the five-minute mark, and when Jack Redpath and Tory Dickson followed up with majors over th next seven minutes, the Bulldogs led by 10. Mav Weller responded with a running goal for the Saints but the goals dried up in the second half of the term, each side adding one further as the Dogs took a five-point lead into the first change of ends. 

After an early second-term behind to Tom Boyd after a big mark, Nick Riewoldt levelled the score with a roving goal at the four-minute mark. Marcus Bontempelli then stamped himself on the match with majors at the seven and 10-minute marks as the Dogs jumped out to a 12-point lead. The Saints stole the momentum after that, though, restricting the Dogs to just one further behind before half time, while Riewoldt added two goals and Jack Steven one to see St Kilda goal clear at the long break. 

Things had started to go wrong late in the second term for the Dogs when Dale Morris limped off the ground with a tight hamstring. He did not reappear on the ground in the their term and goals to Membrey and Riewoldt suddenly had them trailing St Kilda by 19 points after 10 minutes. Stung into action, the Bulldogs responded with three goals in as many minutes, one each to Dickson, Lin Jong and Bontempelli, with a another behind to Bontempelli levelling the scores going into time on. After Jade Gresham put the Saints back in front with a great snap at the 20-minute mark, Bontempelli had a chance to level the scores with another set shot but he missed and it was St Kilda by five points at three-quarter time. 

Already down a player on the bench, things got worse for the Dogs when Redpath's knee collapsed under him at the five-minute mark, forcing him off the ground. Neither side had scored at that point but the Saints began to get on top, with a goal to Nathan Wright putting them 11 points clear. Jack Billings added a behind to make the margin an even two goals and it was then that Mitch Wallis suffered his awful leg-break, stretchered off in clear agony at the 12-minute mark. 

In many respects, the Bulldogs didn't do too badly from that point. While they had just one free player on the bench, they did well to keep St Kilda to just three further behinds. They were unable to score themselves, though, the Saints resolute defence keeping them scoreless for the term, St Kilda sneaking home by 15 points to stay alive in 2016. 

Jack Steven continued his fine season, gathering 39 touches and laying seven tackles, while Bontempelli was a stand-out for the Dogs, with 25 disposals to go with his three goals. 

St Kilda will have a big chance to narrow the gap between itself and North Melbourne from three games to two when it takes on the Roos at Docklands next Friday night, while the Bulldogs will have another difficult assignment, taking on second-placed Geelong, who thrashed them in round 13, at Kardinia Park on Friday night. 

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli 3; Dickson 2; Smith, Redpath, Suckling, Jong
St Kilda: Riewoldt 4; Membrey 2; Weller, Armitage, Steven, Gresham, Wright

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Hunter, Macrae, M.Boyd
St Kilda: Steven, Riewoldt, Hickey, Newnes, Dempster, Weller

BEST - HERALD SUN
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Macrae, Hunter, M Boyd, Dunkley, Johanissen
St Kilda: Steven, Riewoldt, Weller, Hickey, Newnes, Dempster, Geary

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Dale Morris (left quad), Jack Redpath (right knee), Wallis (left ankle)
St Kilda: Weller (cut to chin), Leigh Montagna (corked left quad)

UMPIRES: Chamberlain, Harris, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Anthony Hudson, Jason Dunstall, Gerard Healy, David King

Source

Match Report by Andrew Gigacz

Match stats

Western Bulldogs Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
24 Biggs, Shane 11 2 8 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 24y 353d 33 7
4 Bontempelli, Marcus 12 7 13 25 3 3 0 3 0 1 20y 242d 54 51
5 Boyd, Matthew 15 7 9 24 0 0 0 3 1 2 33y 331d 274 83
17 Boyd, Tom 4 1 4 8 0 1 13 1 2 1 20y 336d 29 30
35 Daniel, Caleb 10 0 8 18 0 0 0 3 3 0 20y 16d 25 11
29 Dickson, Tory 6 3 7 13 2 0 0 2 1 1 28y 301d 70 116
20 Dunkley, Josh 8 5 12 20 0 0 0 6 1 0 19y 196d 8 4
7 Hunter, Lachie 18 3 10 28 0 0 0 4 2 0 21y 223d 53 22
39 Johannisen, Jason 12 3 11 23 0 0 0 3 0 0 23y 258d 55 17
46 Jong, Lin 8 3 11 19 1 0 0 8 1 3 23y 49d 33 21
21 Liberatore, Tom 3 1 11 14 0 0 0 3 0 1 24y 68d 93 31
11 Macrae, Jack 12 8 15 27 0 0 0 2 1 1 21y 355d 72 18
38 Morris, Dale 3 4 2 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 33y 207d 224 3
42 Picken, Liam 10 5 10 20 0 1 0 1 1 0 29y 357d 167 54
43 Redpath, Jack 1 0 3 4 1 0 2 2 1 2 25y 223d 25 41
18 Roberts, Fletcher 4 3 7 11 0 0 0 1 0 1 23y 50d 30 0
23 Roughead, Jordan 12 7 4 16 0 0 15 5 5 2 25y 263d 105 20
14 Smith, Clay 8 4 7 15 1 1 0 7 2 3 23y 73d 38 22
25 Stevens, Koby 6 1 10 16 0 0 0 5 1 2 25y 35d 72 34
1 Suckling, Matt 14 4 7 21 1 0 0 3 2 0 27y 364d 115 58
3 Wallis, Mitch 4 3 6 10 0 0 0 5 1 2 23y 273d 93 41
10 Wood, Easton 10 8 6 16 0 0 0 0 0 2 26y 323d 99 13
  Totals 191 82 181 372 9 6 30 69 25 24 24y 338d 1767 697
St. Kilda Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
8 Acres, Blake 6 5 6 12 0 0 3 1 0 2 20y 290d 21 5
20 Armitage, David 10 3 8 18 1 0 0 6 2 1 28y 37d 145 86
15 Billings, Jack 9 2 8 17 0 1 1 3 3 1 20y 340d 37 24
27 Bruce, Josh 2 2 6 8 0 2 1 1 1 2 24y 45d 63 86
24 Dempster, Sean 12 10 11 23 0 0 0 2 1 0 32y 185d 217 20
7 Dunstan, Luke 11 3 6 17 0 0 0 6 1 2 21y 176d 51 25
14 Geary, Jarryn 11 6 9 20 0 0 0 2 2 0 28y 30d 137 23
19 Gilbert, Sam 7 2 5 12 0 0 1 4 1 1 29y 339d 174 35
22 Gresham, Jade 12 4 7 19 1 0 0 2 1 1 18y 334d 14 10
1 Hickey, Tom 6 6 12 18 0 1 34 3 2 3 25y 139d 58 19
36 McKenzie, Daniel 5 3 7 12 0 0 0 1 0 1 20y 67d 12 0
28 Membrey, Tim 9 6 5 14 2 1 0 1 0 1 22y 58d 25 43
11 Montagna, Leigh 14 7 9 23 0 0 0 2 0 1 32y 264d 266 148
16 Newnes, Jack 15 5 11 26 0 0 0 5 3 1 23y 150d 86 22
12 Riewoldt, Nick 14 10 5 19 4 0 4 0 0 1 33y 280d 314 675
17 Roberton, Dylan 13 9 10 23 0 1 0 1 1 1 25y 32d 97 13
6 Ross, Sebastian 10 4 5 15 0 0 1 4 0 0 23y 77d 54 8
5 Savage, Shane 15 5 7 22 0 1 0 3 2 0 25y 200d 106 53
40 Sinclair, Jack 1 0 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 21y 162d 27 22
3 Steven, Jack 17 6 22 39 1 0 0 7 1 1 26y 117d 129 87
44 Weller, Maverick 13 8 9 22 1 1 0 3 1 2 24y 161d 85 39
34 Wright, Nathan 5 2 4 9 1 1 0 4 2 1 22y 158d 25 3
  Totals 217 108 174 391 11 9 45 63 24 25 25y 16d 2143 1446

Match highlights

Jack Steven had 22 handballs for St. Kilda vs. Western Bulldogs (AFL, Premiership Season, R18)

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.