Australian Football

Match Report

Western Bulldogs' coach Luke Beveridge revealed after Friday night's game against Adelaide that the Dogs had set it as a 'line in the sand' match, after the club's less than impressive form in the previous month. And for the first half of the match, the Dogs very much played as if that was the case, taking it right up to the Crows, with only a poor conversion rate preventing them from leading. But after the Crows kicked a couple of early third-quarter majors, the Bulldogs fell way dramatically, to the point that the kicked only one second-half goal as Adelaide cantered to a 59-point win. 

It's difficult to tell what the result of one match in isolation can mean in the context of a full season, but Friday night's second half certainly seemed to indicate two things — firstly, the Adelaide Crows, after some slightly indifferent for in recent weeks, appear to be back to their best; and secondly, the Western Bulldogs are looking a mere shadow of the side that swept all before them last September. The Dogs appear to be devoid of system and confidence, and missing out on the finals has almost moved from the realm of possibility to probability for them.

The match began in driving rain and the Crows settled first in the wet, with skipper Taylor Walker taking a clean mark and kicking truly after just two minutes. The Bulldogs shored up their defence after that, and began to control the play but were plagued by poor kicking for goal, as they have been all year, with Liam Picken, Mitch Wallis and Marcus Bontempelli all missing shots before a long bomb from Matt Suckling gave them the lead. The Crows responded through Josh Jenkins but a diving mark and goal to Jack Redpath saw the Bulldogs ahead by two points at the first change.

Adelaide began the second quarter strongly, with goals to Jenkins and Eddie Betts seeing the Crows to a 10-point lead after just six minutes. When Rory Atkins made it three for the quarter eight minutes later, the margin was out to 15 and the Dogs were in danger of losing touch. But they turned things around in general play from there, and finally broke through with late goals to Bailey Dale and Jake Stringer, and the half-time margin was just three points.

The Crows started the third tern strongly as they had the second, with early majors to Walker and Matt Crouch taking their lead back out to 15, but there was a sense that the Dogs would be able to reset, readjust and stem the flow as they had done in the first half. Instead, the Bulldogs fell away dramatically from there, and Jenkins' third goal at the 10-minute mark appeared to break them. From there they barely gave a yelp, and further majors from Jenkins, Betts, Walker and Jenkins again capped off a seven-goal-to-nil quarter which saw Adelaide 42 points to the good at three-quarter time.

Their confidence seemingly shot, the Bulldogs couldn't buy a goal in the first half of the final term. The Crows went on their merry way, adding majors through Rory Sloane, Brad Crouch and Richard Douglas as the margin blew out to 61 points. A snap from Luke Dahlhaus at the 17-minute mark finally gave the Dogs their first goal of the second half, but Adelaide closed out the match with a major to Charlie Cameron, capping off a crushing win.

Twin towers Walker (18 touches, three goals) and Jenkins (11 marks, four goals) were outstanding for the winners, while Rory Laird (12 marks, 32 possessions) also played a fine game. For the Bulldogs, Toby McLean was one of the few shining lights, with a career-high 32 disposals and eight tackles. 

The win took the Crows back to the top of the ladder, but they will have a challenge holding that spot, with a match against Melbourne - who defeated them in round eight - to come on Saturday night. The Bulldogs now find themselves a game plus a hefty percentage outside of the eight, with a match against Carlton to come on Sunday. On paper the game looms as a win for the Dogs, but the Blues are playing much better than their 16th place on the ladder would indicate, and only a brave or foolhardy tipster would mark it down as a certain win for the red, white and blue.

GOALS
Adelaide: Jenkins 4; Walker 3; Betts 2; Knight, Sloane, Atkins, M.Crouch, B.Crouch, Douglas, Cameron
Western Bulldogs: Stringer, Redpath, Suckling, Dale, Dahlhaus

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Adelaide: Walker, Jenkins, Sloane, Lever, Otten, Laird, M.Crouch
Western Bulldogs: McLean, Bontempelli, Hunter

BEST - ADELAIDE ADVERTISER
Adelaide: Jenkins, Walker, Lever, M. Crouch, Atkins, Sloane, Betts, Laird
Western Bulldogs: McLean, Macrae, Bontempelli, Stringer, Suckling

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Nil

UMPIRES: Chamberlain, Fleer, Meredith

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network