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West Coast vs Western Bulldogs

Scoreboard | Match report | Match statistics

2EF   Venue: Subiaco Oval   Date: Thu, 08-09-2016 6:10 pm   Crowd: 42,079  
West Coast 2.3.153.6.245.9.397.10.52 C:  Adam Simpson
Western Bulldogs 4.4.287.6.4811.9.7514.15.99 C:  Luke Beveridge
  WBULL by 13WBULL by 24WBULL by 36WBULL by 47  
Weather
min temp  11.6°C      max temp  17.9°C
rainfall  5.4mm    humidity  62%    air pressure  1024,7mb
wind speed 7km/h      wind direction  WSW

Match Report

There were myriad reasons for the West Coast Eagles starting as raging favourites in their Second Elimination Final against the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night. The Eagles had finished off the home-and-away season strongly, with impressive wins - two of them away from home - against GWS, Hawthorn and Adelaide, all top four sides at the time, while the Bulldogs stumbled in their last-round match against lowly Fremantle at Subiaco. The Dogs had not won in Perth since 2010, and their forward line had been lacking potency in the latter part of this year.

Everything pointed to a West Coast win, and a comfortable one at that. The only problem with that script was that someone forgot to hand it to Luke Beveridge and his team - or if they did, "Bevo" and his Dogs threw it out the window and wrote a new one from scratch, attacking the Eagles and the ball with equal veracity from the outset to set up a remarkable win that gave the finals series a twist in its very first chapter. The Dogs won all four quarters, silencing the normally rabid Subiaco crowd for large periods and blunting the Eagles' normally prolific attack to record a 47-point win, one of the club's best in living memory for many of its supporters. 

The Bulldogs' intent and ferocity was evident from the outset, as they dominated the early minutes to keep the ball in their forward half for the majority of the time. They could not translate that dominance to scoreboard pressure, though, and gettable shots from Lachie Hunter, Jordan Roughead and Tory Dickson registered behinds only, after which the Eagles scored two straight goals via Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling as a result of costly Bulldog turnovers.

It was exactly the sort of scenario Dogs' fans would have feared - costly early misses followed by goals to West Coast to get the home crowd "up and about" and full of voice. But the Bulldogs' players were unfazed by the less than perfect beginning, and a strong mark and goal to Liam Picken galvanised his team and set them on their way. The Bulldogs ran in numbers for the remainder of the quarter - a stark contrast to their effort at the venue two weeks earlier agains the Dockers - and added further goals via Caleb Daniel, Dickson and Tom Liberatore to take a 13-point lead into the first break.

West Coast had an early opportunity to regain momentum early in the second quarter but Kennedy's shot after a mark hit the post. The Bulldogs regained the ascendancy after that, and Dickson's second goal after a mark at the four-minute mark had them ahead by three goals. A snap from Luke Dahlhaus in heavy traffic extended the Dogs' lead to 23 points and when Lachie Hunter marked and goaled midway through the term, the Bulldogs had kicked seven majors in a row to leave the Eagles shell-shocked. A late goal to Mitch Brown cut the margin to an even four goals at half time but the Western Bulldogs went into the long break looking the far superior side. 

When play resumed in the third quarter, there was an air of expectancy that the home side would hit its straps and the Bulldogs, by far the most inexperienced of the sides in the top eight in terms of average games played, would fade. But once again the Dogs ignored the script, controlling the first 10 minutes of the term to add 2.2 to nil, the goals going to Clay Smith and Picken to open up a commanding 38-point break and it began to dawn on all and sundry at the ground that the Bulldogs were not only heading for a win against the odds, but one of significant magnitude.

The Eagles had a brief period of dominance in the middle of the term, but it produced only one goal and three behinds, and time-on heralded a return to control of the game to the Bulldogs, with goals to Josh Dunkley and Jordan Roughead set up by magnificent run from defence extending the Dogs' advantage to 44 points. A late mark and goal to Darling cut that back to 36 at the final end-change, but by that stage few could see West Coast mounting a comeback and stealing the match. 

An early last-quarter goal again increased the Bulldog lead to 44 points before a mark in the goal square to Mark LeCras was converted to cut the deficit to six goal at the four-minute mark to give the home side the faintest of hopes. Four minutes later, though, a mark and goal from outside 50-metre arc to Marcus Bontempelli ended any such thoughts. Jake Stringer, who had had a quiet night, emulated Bontempelli's feat at the 12-minute mark, extending the Dogs' lead to 51 points, and the last 20 minutes of the game saw both sides more or less playing out time, the result now a foregone conclusion.

The Dogs added three further behinds while Kennedy scored a consolation goal for the Eagles, the final margin being 47 points in the Western Bulldogs'; favour, one that even the most optimistic of fans would surely not have forecast.

While the Bulldogs had winners all over the ground, Liam Picken (23 disposals, two goals), Luke Dahlhaus (29 touches, nine tackles and a goal) and Caleb Daniel (33 possessions, one goal) stood out, with Picken worthy of particular mention for his outstanding work in the first 45 minutes when the game was up for grabs. For the Eagles, Andrew Gaff (35 disposals) was his usual prolific self, while Mark Hutchings (25 touches and five tackles) put in a solid four-quarter effort.

The Bulldogs will now head into the second week of the finals full of belief. They will play reigning premier Hawthorn at the MCG on Friday and, while the Hawks will start favourites, the Bulldogs will go into the match knowing they can match it with their opponents, their round-three clash only falling Hawthorn's way with the last kick of the match.

For West Coast, some soul-searching is in order. The Eagles were Grand Finalists last year and, although their late-season form had been excellent, they were unable to win enough games throughout the season to set up a top-four finish and secure the double-chance and they paid the ultimate price for that failure on Thursday night.

GOALS
West Coast: Darling, Kennedy 2; Hill, Brown, LeCras
Western Bulldogs: Picken, Dickson, Dunkley 2; Dahlhaus, Hunter, Daniel, Liberatore, Smith, Roughead, Bontempelli, Stringer

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
West Coast: Hutchings, Gaff, Shuey, Butler, Hurn
Western Bulldogs: Dahlhaus, Daniel, Boyd, Picken, Hunter, Johannisen

BEST - HERALD SUN
West Coast: Gaff, Shuey, Hutchings, Schofield
Western Bulldogs: Daniel, Dahlhaus, Picken, Hunter, Boyd, Hamling, Dickson, Macrae

INJURIES
West Coast: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Jong (right shoulder)

UMPIRES: Farmer, Rosebury, Schmitt

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Dennis Cometti, Basil Zempilas, Luke Darcy, Leigh Matthews, Peter Bell

Source

Match Report by Andrew Gigacz

Match stats

West Coast Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
37 Barrass, Tom 6 6 5 11 0 0 1 1 0 0 20y 336d 13 0
1 Brown, Mitchell 3 0 2 5 1 0 0 3 0 0 27y 266d 94 14
26 Butler, Sam 12 5 12 24 0 0 0 3 0 0 30y 238d 157 16
15 Cripps, Jamie 4 0 2 6 0 0 0 6 0 1 24y 138d 98 117
27 Darling, Jack 6 6 5 11 2 0 0 3 1 2 24y 87d 128 228
3 Gaff, Andrew 20 2 15 35 0 0 0 1 1 1 24y 84d 132 49
22 Giles, Jonathan 5 4 3 8 0 0 28 3 0 1 28y 244d 58 42
33 Hill, Josh 6 4 5 11 1 1 0 2 1 2 27y 233d 161 210
25 Hurn, Shannon 19 3 6 25 0 0 0 2 0 0 29y 4d 200 49
34 Hutchings, Mark 10 5 15 25 0 0 0 5 1 0 25y 106d 56 29
17 Kennedy, Josh 12 8 4 16 2 1 0 2 1 2 29y 14d 188 450
2 LeCras, Mark 13 7 4 17 1 2 0 3 1 1 30y 9d 177 377
29 Lycett, Scott 4 2 5 9 0 0 16 6 2 0 23y 348d 49 35
7 Masten, Chris 11 2 16 27 0 0 0 2 0 0 27y 129d 161 57
20 McGovern, Jeremy 10 7 3 13 0 0 6 1 0 2 24y 146d 55 19
11 Priddis, Matt 5 0 20 25 0 1 0 8 1 1 31y 171d 219 67
31 Schofield, Will 5 4 5 10 0 0 0 6 1 0 27y 228d 154 20
4 Sheed, Dom 5 2 4 9 0 0 0 1 0 0 21y 151d 39 12
5 Sheppard, Brad 8 2 12 20 0 0 0 4 0 2 25y 108d 107 16
13 Shuey, Luke 6 1 22 28 0 0 1 6 1 0 26y 98d 134 111
12 Wellingham, Sharrod 11 4 4 15 0 0 0 4 1 1 28y 63d 158 73
6 Yeo, Elliot 8 5 5 13 0 2 0 7 1 1 22y 343d 84 37
  Rushed   3  
  Totals 189 79 174 363 7 10 52 79 13 17 26y 145d 2622 2028
Western Bulldogs Match Stats Career
# Player K M H D G B HO T FF FA Age Games G
24 Biggs, Shane 14 7 5 19 0 0 0 2 1 1 25y 34d 39 7
4 Bontempelli, Marcus 13 4 8 21 1 2 1 4 4 1 20y 289d 60 55
5 Boyd, Matthew 14 4 12 26 0 0 0 2 0 0 34y 12d 279 83
17 Boyd, Tom 6 5 8 14 0 2 8 5 1 0 21y 17d 35 34
12 Cordy, Zaine 6 5 2 8 0 0 0 1 1 0 19y 317d 8 5
6 Dahlhaus, Luke 12 6 17 29 1 1 0 9 1 0 24y 18d 112 95
35 Daniel, Caleb 17 1 16 33 1 0 0 4 0 0 20y 63d 31 15
29 Dickson, Tory 13 7 5 18 2 2 0 5 0 0 28y 348d 76 130
20 Dunkley, Josh 6 2 9 15 2 0 3 4 0 0 19y 243d 14 8
30 Hamling, Joel 7 3 6 13 0 0 0 0 1 2 23y 152d 20 0
7 Hunter, Lachie 16 5 10 26 1 2 0 3 2 1 21y 270d 59 26
39 Johannisen, Jason 21 8 4 25 0 0 0 6 1 1 23y 305d 61 18
46 Jong, Lin 2 0 4 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 23y 96d 39 25
21 Liberatore, Tom 13 3 9 22 1 0 0 3 0 1 24y 115d 95 32
11 Macrae, Jack 9 3 15 24 0 0 0 4 1 2 22y 36d 74 18
38 Morris, Dale 2 2 4 6 0 0 0 2 0 0 33y 254d 227 3
42 Picken, Liam 14 9 9 23 2 0 0 3 0 0 30y 38d 173 57
23 Roughead, Jordan 6 4 6 12 1 1 17 3 1 1 25y 310d 110 23
14 Smith, Clay 3 2 16 19 1 0 0 9 1 2 23y 120d 44 28
9 Stringer, Jake 4 2 6 10 1 1 1 2 0 0 22y 136d 70 132
1 Suckling, Matt 12 1 7 19 0 1 0 4 1 1 28y 45d 118 58
10 Wood, Easton 3 4 9 12 0 0 0 0 1 0 27y 4d 104 14
  Rushed   3  
  Totals 213 87 187 400 14 15 30 77 17 13 24y 246d 1848 866

Footnotes

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