WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.5.35 9.6.60 13.9.87 15.14.104
SCORERS - Collingwood: Moore (5.0), White (2.2), Grundy (2.1), Pendlebury (1.1), Varcoe (1.1), Greenwood (1.0), Sidebottom (1.0), Swan (0.1), Witts (0.1)
BEST - Collingwood: Sidebottom, Swan, Moore, Langdon, Pendlebury
INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES - Collingwood: Jarryd Blair replaced Adam Oxley in the third quarter
REPORTS: Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs) reported for rough conduct on Brayden Maynard (Collingwood) in the last quarter
OFFICIAL CROWD: 40,581 at Etihad Stadium
| 1. Moore please With Pies spearhead Travis Cloke sidelined with a calf injury, young gun Darcy Moore was promoted to a key forward role in his third AFL game. The 19-year-old son of club great Peter Moore hadn't kicked a goal in his previous two games but proved a bright spark in attack with a game-high five goals. Moore slotted three of four goals the Pies scored between the 19-minute mark of the second term and the 22-minute mark of the third. He kicked Collingwood's only two goals of the third term to keep the Pies in touch, using his pace to run in for an easy goal, and four minutes later took a contested mark and converted from just inside 50. He moved well, competed strongly, showcased an impressive arm extension to the ball and displayed terrific athleticism. 2. Lachie becomes the Hunter Bulldogs youngster Lachie Hunter had broken the 20-disposals barrier just twice in his previous 28 games, but amassed a game-high had 20 by half-time. Late in the third quarter the skillful left-footer had already passed his previous personal best of 24 touches. In just his fifth game of the season, the 20-year-old finished with 32 possessions and was one of the best-afield. Another Bulldog to enjoyed a career-high was former Swan Shane Biggs, who controlled play in the back half and ended with 28 possessions. 3. Deadeye Dickson's half-century Dogs goalsneak Tory Dickson started his 50th game on fire, and appeared set to challenge his career-best haul of seven goals, which he bagged in the round seven loss to Fremantle at the same venue. By the five-minute mark of the second term, he'd had three kicks and kicked three goals. The best of them was his third, which came from a neat left-foot snap from 25m. He finished with four majors and now has 18.1 from set shots. The 27-year-old, in his fourth season with the Dogs after VFL stints with Frankston and the Bendigo Bombers, is second on the club's goalkicking list with 30 goals, behind only Jake Stringer (32). |
4. Macrae reported In the dying minutes with the result beyond doubt, Western Bulldogs midfielder Jack Macrae was reported for rough conduct on Brayden Maynard, after bumping him in the back after a free kick had been awarded to the Pies. At first glance it seems Macrae would be stiff to cop a suspension, but it was certainly a silly thing to do and marred an otherwise terrific 28-possession game from the left-footer. 5. Dress rehearsal for the 2016 opener? At the pre-match function, Bulldogs president Peter Gordon revealed the Dogs and Pies are lobbying the AFL to play an annual round-one clash at the MCG, and this clash proved a great advertisement for the concept. The two promising young teams opened the game at breakneck speed, with a goal to Collingwood skipper Scott Pendlebury inside 20 seconds, and the tempo was maintained for much of the contest, as the Bulldogs strengthened their finals chances while the Magpies slumped to a fifth straight loss. Moore slotted three of four goals the Pies scored between the 19-minute mark of the second term and the 22-minute mark of the third. He kicked Collingwood's only two goals of the third term to keep the Pies in touch, using his pace to run in for an easy goal, and four minutes later took a contested mark and converted from just inside 50. He moved well, competed strongly, showcased an impressive arm extension to the ball and displayed terrific athleticism. |
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Collingwood has found itself off the finals pace in the past five weeks because of its inability to step up when games are on the line, coach Nathan Buckley says. The Magpies lost their fifth straight match on Sunday against the Western Bulldogs, dropping from fourth spot in round 12 to now sit 11th, precariously placed with an 8-8 record. They had an opportunity to pounce in the fourth quarter on Sunday when they cut the margin to 11 points, but back-to-back goals for the Bulldogs from crumbing opportunities iced the game. Buckley said the common thread in the past five weeks had been such lapses at crucial moments that let the opposition secure victory. "The consistent theme is when the games are there to be won we haven't quite stepped up to the plate," he said. "When the question is asked and when it's in the balance, we want to be a footy club that answers in the affirmative … at the moment we haven't been able to. "Against Fremantle, Port Adelaide, West Coast and again today where we've been that goal-and-a-bit down, we've had momentum, we've had four or five inside 50s in a row, and if we'd done the basics well we'd be able to hit the scoreboard and make a real game of it, but we haven't been able to do that. "The opposition have weathered the storm, made the most of some opportunities, and we've given them to them. The game's done." As well as close losses to the Dockers, Power and Eagles, Collingwood let a slim lead against Hawthorn slip in the fourth quarter in round 14, rounding out a horror run of near misses. "We know the reality of where we're at and at the moment I think sides come up against us and they think they're a chance. We've got to turn that around," Buckley said. "We're all a little bit inpatient, aren't we, even the coach and the players. "But we're doing a lot of things right. It's just doing those little things right to be able to take the next step." Buckley said teenage forward Darcy Moore had produced "a first class" performance, kicking five goals in just his third game. The 19-year-old led a forward line that Buckley said was let down by its small forwards. "When you get your opportunities and you take your opportunities, it makes a big difference," he said of Moore. "His contest was really good, his aerial was excellent, and above all when he earned his opportunities he took them. "We schooled him up as a defender through the pre-season and early in the year. "But we've been looking for a little bit more forward of the ball and he's been able to provide that." THE WESTERN Bulldogs have withstood a late charge from Collingwood to win by 18 points at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, leaving the Magpies with a challenge ahead just to play finals. The Bulldogs move a game clear inside the top eight with their 10th win of the season and two games clear of 11th-placed Collingwood, who have lost five straight games for the first time since 2005. The 15.14 (104) to 13.8 (86) result could even help the Bulldogs move into top-four calculations as they draw level on points with fifth-placed Richmond. In front of 40,581 fans, the Bulldogs' biggest home crowd since 2010, Luke Beveridge's team produced a high-octane first half before grinding out the match. The Magpies' only rally came at the start of the fourth quarter, when teenage forward Darcy Moore sparked a three-goal run that cut the margin to 11 points. Moore was the shining light for Collingwood, kicking five goals in just his third game, playing with confidence to take contested marks and convert his chances. The Bulldogs were led by Lachie Hunter, who stepped up and played his best game for the club to finish with a career-high 32 possessions. Veterans Robert Murphy (26 possessions and seven inside 50s) and Matthew Boyd (38 and 12 marks), were the Dogs' anchors, with sharpshooter Tory Dickson booting 4.0. Liam Picken continued his excellent season with 33 possessions and eight tackles, while Mitch Wallis dominated the stoppages with an equal game-high nine clearances. "We were able to keep up the pace for four quarters, which was quite outstanding by our players," Beveridge said. "I was a bit worried the game was so quick that we were going to drop off … and Collingwood capitalised a few times on some blatant turnovers that we'd like to clean up. "But we had a really even contribution from all our players, and that always points you in the right direction." With the AFL spectacle a hot talking point, the Bulldogs and Magpies put on an entertaining, fast-paced first half. Stoppages were down to 21 in the first half, down on an AFL average of 36 this season, and both teams capitalised on turnovers to move the ball quickly and kick running goals. The Bulldogs did this best in the first quarter, playing on at every opportunity to rack up 65 handball receives to 35. Murphy was the architect early across half-forward and moving like a player in his prime. Forward Stewart Crameri was also on his game early, taking big contested marks and finding space inside 50. Trailing by two goals and clearly on the back foot at the first change, the Magpies needed a fix and it came with increased pressure on the ball carrier after quarter time. They used the Bulldogs' blueprint of forcing turnovers and playing on to work back into the game, with Moore benefiting from the new approach to kick his first AFL goal. The 19-year-old then grew in confidence and worked into dangerous positions. In the third quarter he swept onto a loose ball and exploded past Shane Biggs to kick his second, and five minutes later he took a big contested mark to set up his third. The alarm bells sounded for the Bulldogs when Moore converted a 50m set shot in the opening five minutes of the final term to cut the margin to 22 points. It was the first of three straight goals the Magpies kicked in a seven-minute burst. However, when Wallis and Bailey Dale converted opportunities the game was over and the Magpies were sent back to the drawing board in their search for a win. The Magpies were best served by Steele Sidebottom (33 possessions and a goal), Dane Swan (33 and nine clearances), Tom Langdon (22 and six rebound 50s) and Scott Pendlebury (29 and a goal). Coach Nathan Buckley said the Pies' inability to hold up the Bulldogs' running defenders had proved costly. "They were clearly flicking it around a little bit and we expected that, we welcomed that," he said. "We rate our ability to put pressure on the opposition, but to their credit they stuck to it and were able to get through a bit more often that we'd have liked. "We tackled at just over one-in-two effective tackles. We need to be tackling better." Steele Sidebottom followed an equal career-high 38 disposals against the Eagles with another 33 against the Western Bulldogs. Sidebottom, who missed six weeks with a broken thumb earlier in the year, has been one of Collingwood's most consistent performers in the second half of the year. He took eight marks and laid three tackles to go with his 33 disposals against the Dogs, level with Dane Swan (33 disposals) and narrowly ahead of Scott Pendlebury (29), Marley Williams (24 disposals) and Tom Langdon (22). |
COLLINGWOOD’S losing streak was extended to five matches on Sunday as the emerging Western Bulldogs’ side overcame a case of stage fright to steady with two late goals to claim a 18-point win. Magpies’ fans could take heart from the performance of 19-year-old son of a gun Darcy Moore, who booted five goals in his third game. But the Bulldogs had far too much run, dominating the uncontested possessions and marching to their 10th win of the season. Choosing to go into the game without big forward and high-priced recruit Tom Boyd, the Bulldogs relied on mobile forwards Tory Dickson (four goals) and Stewart Crameri (two goals) in front of a crowd of 40,581 at Etihad Stadium. The Bulldogs had 11 goalkickers while the Magpies’ big forward Jesse White kicked two goals but didn’t have a major influence on the game. Matthew Boyd had a game-high 38 disposals but Lachie Hunter had more influence in a big match with 32 touches and skipper Rob Murphy was everywhere early in attack and defence, with 26 possessions and a goal. Liam Picken played a typical hardworking game in midfield and had 33 touches in an excellent effort but the Bulldogs also received good service from youngster Bailey Dale who kicked a crucial late goal. The Bulldogs continued their surge towards September and displayed clean ball use in their fifth win in six outings, while the Magpies (8-8 win-loss record) missed a chance to return to the top eight. Goals from turnovers was a big concern for the Magpies. The Bulldogs had been averaging nine inside-50 marks per game and reached that tally by quarter-time against Collingwood. By half-time the Bulldogs held an 11-point lead, kicking nine goals including three to Dickson. Jake Stringer’s first goal of the day closely followed by Dickson’s fourth stretched the home side’s margin to 25 points at the 12-minute mark of the third term. Crameri’s second goal after the three-quarter time siren put the Bulldogs 26 points clear at the final change. Collingwood fought back by kicking the first three goals of the last term to edge within 11 points at the 12-minute mark. Mitch Wallis snapped a goal and survived a score review to give the Bulldogs an 18-point and Wallis won the next centre clearance as Bailey Dale goaled on the run to end Collingwood’s hopes. The Bulldogs’ Jack Macrae was reported for rough conduct after a clash with Brayden Maynard. “We just backed our speed in today, get the ball into the forward half,” Picken told Triple M Radio. Dane Swan with 33 touches and nine clearances and Steele Sidebottom were influential for the Magpies alongside the exciting forward Moore. When Lachie Hunter was told he had to start the season playing for the Western Bulldogs' VFL side and prove to his teammates that he deserved to be pushed back into the senior team, he wasn't sure how long it would take him to do that but didn't think it would take too long. "With where we've been in the last couple of years," he said, "it hasn't felt too hard to get a game." Hunter felt like he started to work hard straight away, and like he was playing as consistently as he ever had before. But the games weren't coming, and the longer he had to wait the more he sensed his team's improvement and that he was part of a much more competitive squad. Hunter got his chance six weeks ago, and knew he wanted to hold onto it. He knew what Sunday meant to both his team and the Collingwood side that hadn't won since the middle of June and played the best match he ever has: busy, smart and involved from start to finish. "I probably thought I'd come back a bit easier than I did but I realised pretty quickly that I'd have to do a lot of work just to get a game let alone stay in the team," said Hunter, who had 32 possessions and took 10 marks, working hard to cover a lot of ground and move the ball both into and out of dangerous spots. "Everyone here wants to play in games like this because we all know how competitive it is to get a game now and that if you do the wrong thing, you'll be out. We had to fight pretty hard for the win, and I think that's because we are all on edge." The Bulldogs couldn't get away with putting up one fight, either. This match was probably decided in two areas: ball use, particularly coming out of defence, and the two forward line set-ups, but each time the Bulldogs seemed to push away the Magpies lunged back at them. The Dogs were frantic early on. Collingwood went after the ball, too, but when the Bulldogs got to it they moved it quickly. They had spoken in the rooms before the game, said Hunter, about making the more urgent start. They had 58 more possessions in the first quarter and created their five-to-three goal lead through brisk, precise ball movement and pressure. They kept it going, too, absorbing a string of challenges from Collingwood and continuing to do the things they knew worked for them. They had Matthew Boyd, Shane Biggs and Jason Johannisen able to take care of their opponents and run the ball consistently from defence. A little further up the field were the likes of Luke Dahlhaus, Bob Murphy, Marcus Bontempelli and Jackson Macrae, able to keep the ball moving at pace. Such was the speed and intensity at which they played, they were able to find forward targets in space, and set up reasonably easy shots on goal. That's where the differences between the two teams collided. When they looked forward, the Bulldog runners had options. In the first quarter it felt like Stewart Crameri was everywhere. At times, Tory Dickson and Jake Stringer seemed to be the ones bobbing up, finding space and taking marks. For a later patch it was Jack Redpath charging out from the goal square. Those four players kicked seven goals between them but also got out of each other's way at the right times and made sure they kept getting the ball to ground so that smaller players could score. Collingwood knew before they went in that they needed to find new ways to create goals. Without Travis Cloke and Jamie Elliott they were missing their best tall and best small. At times, it felt like they blew some chances to get the ball into good spots simply because things weren't as predictable as usual. At other times, they were able to find their talls. Brodie Grundy kicked two goals as part of a much broader game. Jesse White didn't play particularly well but was able to add two, too. Darcy Moore scored five: in career game three he was quick, athletic and highly exciting. What the Pies didn't have was the same number of small goalkickers, or the sort of reliable, clean delivery the Bulldog targets found themselves on the end of. A few times, long, direct kick ins by Tyson Goldsack helped create goals. When the Pies did score, they were able to score quite quickly. But they weren't able to do that while slowing the Bulldogs up for long enough, or to lock the ball in their forward line for long enough to create pressure and force shots.. This was a good game. Collingwood hung in, persisted and the Bulldogs were up for it each time. It wasn't until Mitch Wallis snapped a low, angled snap with a few minutes to go then went into the centre square and won two clearances that it felt like the Dogs had done just about enough. Hunter was pleased that they held off the last-quarter challenge, but also those that came before it. "We knew they were going to play well and keep coming but I thought we kept trying to play on the edge and keep trying to win the game," he said. "The intensity had gone out of our game in the last couple of weeks, but we got it back and now we've got to keep it like that." "The consistent theme is when the games are there to be won we haven't quite stepped up to the plate. When the question is asked and when it's in the balance, we want to be a footy club that answers in the affirmative … at the moment we haven't been able to."
Nathan Buckley
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