The Lessons We Learned - Round 4

If there are three certainties in any given week, it’s weekdays, weekends, and a close game involving the Western Bulldogs. The recently-established adage proved correct yet again on Friday Night when the Bulldogs triumphed over North Melbourne in a thriller at Etihad Stadium. In the first ever Good Friday clash, the Bulldogs edged out the Roos by just three points, despite facing a 29-point deficit midway through the third term. As always when the Bulldogs play, there was plenty to learn from our victory, and here were some of the key lessons:

1. Good Friday Football Works.

It’s been a talking point in the AFL fixture for several years now, and it’s been a topic of serious debate since the fixture came out in October last year, which revealed that these two teams would be pitted against each other on one of the holiest days of the year. Many argued that the day should be kept sacred, whilst some put forward the suggestion that next year the fixture should be shared, but with clashes such as the Season Opener, ANZAC Day, ANZAC Day Eve, Easter Monday and Queen’s Birthday already being shared by a select few rich Victorian clubs, I think it’s important for the sake of the concept of equalization that two traditional working class clubs like North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs be given this specific fixture for good.

It was a resounding success – 42,814 people attended the game (the third-highest home-and-away attendance of all-time between these two teams) and the match as a contest was terrific, particularly in the second half, and it has the potential to be spoken about like the very first ANZAC Day match is spoken about. Channel 7’s efforts to tie the game in with the Good Friday Appeal seemed forced at times, but it was effective overall, with the $17.6m raised being an all-time record for the cause. Here’s hoping the AFL keep it next year, and here’s hoping the AFL keep it for North v Bulldogs alone.

2. Luke Dahlhaus Is The Most Underrated Player In The Competition.

Those who partake in the fantasy game SuperCoach will understand how it works, but those who don’t understand can be forgiven for assuming that it’s all about how many kicks you get and nothing more. The scoring system in SuperCoach takes into account not only how many possessions a player has, but also how effective they are, and what sort of impact they have on the outcome of a match. They’re also referred to as Champion Data Ranking Points, and a good score is normally 100. Luke Dahlhaus managed 145 on Friday – ranked a clear No.1 on the ground. Across the first month of the season, he has a higher ranking than several higher-profile superstars, including Gary Ablett, Sam Mitchell, Steele Sidebottom, Luke Parker and even Callan Ward, and he’s the third highest-ranked Bulldog, behind only Bontempelli and Liberatore.

But enough about the rest of the last, what about last night? Well, he had 32 disposals (15 of which were contested), went at 75% disposal efficiency, six tackles, and snuck home to vital goals either side of three-quarter time. He’s now averaging 28 disposals to start the season and nearly five tackles a game. He’s no longer the flashy small forward that people have labelled him as for so long. In fact, he moved on from that role some four years ago now, and he’s only been improving each year. If he plays a full season, the All-Australian selectors can’t ignore him, and if he’s not in your SuperCoach side, get him now quickly!

Luke Dahlhaus is arguably the most underrated player in the competition. Source: Getty Images

3. Umpiring Is Becoming Confusing

Watching the game on Friday, I wasn’t complaining about the ruck infringement rule on the stroke of three-quarter time, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel slightly sympathetic towards North Melbourne, because I know I’d be up in arms had the roles been reversed. I felt very sure I heard the umpire say that Bontempelli was the nominated ruckman, yet awarded a free kick to Dunkley when the latter was blocked from competing. The North players surrounding the umpire were as furious as they were mystified, and they weren’t alone. Dunkley missed the kick and therefore didn’t really impact the result, but that doesn’t make the interpretations any clearer. The AFL came out and supported the decision, which was the least surprising thing to happen this weekend, but whilst I understand the want to allow ruckman to have a defined role in the game, surely there is a better or at least simpler way to go about it. The whole “could you please nominate” is a matter of etiquette that the game doesn’t really need.

The Bulldogs also triumphed despite losing the free kick count, a heavy topic of debate over the first month of the season. There seemed to be a significant crackdown on our fast handballing game, which is all well and good, but it first has to be a throw. Whilst there were clear throws in the game which were rightly picked up on, there were also throws that were a) not clear throws, and b) taking place in an area of the ground where the umpire would’ve found it almost impossible to tell. The decision I’m most referring to is the one involving Dahlhaus moments after he tackled Goldstein in the opening term. The holding-the-ball interpretations seemed to be inconsistent throughout the match as well, but umpires will have different interpretations, and it will be inconsistent some weeks, so this isn’t something we should read into a great deal.

Contrary to popular belief and the #FreeKickBulldogs uproar that has plagued social media over the first month of the season, the Bulldogs have only led the free kick count in one of the first four games. After falling -1 in that category against the Magpies in Round 1, there was a big discrepancy (+13) against the Swans the following week. But since then, it was dead level against Fremantle (14 apiece), and 21 – 16 on Friday Night, so this notion that we are at a significantl advantage due to the umpires is, so far, a complete myth.

4. Tom Campbell Is One Gutsy Man

With no Tom Boyd for the last three-quarters, the Bulldogs were already at a significant disadvantage being down to only three on the bench. It wasn’t ideal, but what made matters worse was that Boyd was one our big men, and it left us without reinforcements both up forward, and in the ruck. The result was that Tom Campbell was forced to ruck solo against both Todd Goldstein and Braydon Preuss for the rest of the match.

The prospect would’ve been scary, but like Boyd v Shane Mumford in last year’s Preliminary Final, Campbell didn’t flinch. Instead, he just fought like a hungry ruckman should. His 37 hitouts was the most on the ground, but whilst the Bulldogs were beaten overall in the hitout (46-39) and the clearance (41-34) department, when you consider that Campbell had to fight all afternoon against two very good ruckman, the differential should have been significantly higher, and when there was no Travis Cloke to help him out for the final 10 minutes, Campbell was forced to call upon whatever emergency energy cells he had left and keep North’s big men at bay. Alone, it was as gutsy a performance as I can recall from him, and one of the big reasons why we got up in the end. The fact that we were able to win despite being down to three and then two on the bench for the majority of the game speaks volumes of the team's character as well.

Whilst it’s true that we’re a much better side when Jordan Roughead is running around, but until that time arrives, if Campbell can continue to fight on, he can plug the gap. In addition to his tap-work, he also had six tackles and three clearances, which shows a willingness and a want to give second and third efforts – a really positive trait in a ruckman.

5. How We Operate Without Travis Cloke Will Be Interesting

Sometimes, a forward line operates a lot better without a hulking key forward, but often, you need a big bloke down the line to be your “Get Out Of Jail Free” card. With no Cloke for 4-6 weeks, and with Stewart Crameri unlikely to be available for next week, it leaves us back to where we started for most of 2016 – Tom Boyd and Jake Stringer being our two tall targets up forward. It sounds dire, but it was that one-two forward combination that won us a Premiership last year, so it can’t be too bad. Having said that though, Cloke will need to be replaced, so forward options need to be investigated.

Looking at the VFL, Paddy Lipinski booted four goals for Footscray and having supported the Bulldogs his whole life, it would mean the world to him to make his debut for the club. He’s a kid with a lot of talent in the forward half and could add some solid value up forward. Fergus Greene also nailed three goals of his own, so we do have a bunch of forwards in some strong goal-kicking form. Premiership forward Tory Dickskon is still a week or so away from returning due to abdominal pains, whilst Jack Redpath is still a fair way off returning to the VFL side, never mind the AFL team, so there’s every chance we could see a debutant this week.

Travis Cloke will be out for 4-6 after suffering broken ribs last Friday. Source: Getty Images

6. There Won’t Be Many Easy Calls For The Rest Of The Year

In addition to Lipinski and Greene, young ruckman Tim English was also among the best players, as were Premiership stars Caleb Daniel and Shane Biggs, whilst Lukas Webb and Mitch Honeychurch were also listed as Footscray’s best. In theory, all stake a really strong claim to be included in the 22 for next Saturday, but how many players would you realistically drop for those seven?

Cloke certainly comes out, but at this stage, the other six changes would all be forced, and I don’t think there are six other players who shouldn’t miss because of their performance last week. Easton Wood was quiet, but none of those six can play his type of role. Zaine Cordy probably needs to regain some confidence in the VFL, but he’s a defender as well. Tom Boyd might miss and would probably be replaced by English, but he looks likely to be fit anyway, other than that, there aren’t too many who could realistically make way.

And whilst we’re talking about players coming back, we’re also forgetting about Mitch Wallis (who is only a week or so away from VFL action), Tory Dickson, Jack Redpath, Jordan Roughead and Dale Morris, who are all either likely or definitely in our Best 22. I know I point it out most weeks, but our depth is a great problem for Luke Beveridge to have.

7. Easton Wood’s Role Seems To Have Changed

We’ve all become so accustomed to seeing Easton Wood float in from the side and pluck the graceful intercept mark across half-back, in an effort so glorious it deserves airtime on the back pages the next day. But that was late-2015, and now we’re into the first month of Season 2017. Someone asked me the other day why Wood has been in such quiet form, and the answer isn’t difficult, but it takes a bit of explaining:

In 2015, Wood would have been playing in front of the likes of Dale Morris, Fletcher Roberts and Joel Hamling. With those three players guarding the opposition’s key forwards, Wood had the freedom to roam around in defence and pick off the high, floating kicks that came forward. Since then, our defensive structures have changed, and instead of being a loose man in defence, Wood has become accountable for a direct opponent, and as a result, it’s limiting his intercept game. It is a real shame, because he was unbelievable at winning the ball back in the air, but we will probably never see him reach the heights of his 2015 campaign again.

8. Matthew Boyd Played His First Game Without A Helmet

Considering he only had the 18 disposals, most people probably didn’t even realise it, but Matthew Boyd was helmet-less on Friday Night. After suffering a lacerated ear in the final JLT Community Series game, Boyd required plastic surgery and was forced to wear a helmet to protect his right ear. But it was gone on Friday, but unfortunately, its absence didn’t wake Boyd out of his early-season slumber. Having said that, he had a slow start to last season as well, before picking up his form and finishing in terrific fashion, but if this form continues for much longer, we may very well be watching Boydy playing his last few games in the red, white and blue. Let’s hope for his sake though that we can get him to that magical 300-game mark. After Friday night, he’s sitting on 286.

9. Ready Yourself For Bob-Mania

Speaking of 300 games, if you don’t love Bob Murphy, it’s more than likely through nothing more than jealously. He’s a great guy, a humble man, a funny person, a beautiful kick of the football and, by Saturday night, will be the latest member of the 300 club. This time 12 months ago, he was limping around on crutches and stranded on 295 games. Those extra five matches needed to get there felt a million miles away for us supporters but must’ve felt like the breadth of the Universe for Bob.

But all the Dogs need to do now is wrap him up in as much cotton wool as we can find, just so we can get him out there for next week. I made a promise to myself that if Bob were to return, I would embrace every kick and treasure every good thing that he does on a football field for the rest of his career, because you truly don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, so I’ll definitely be soaking up every moment of Saturday afternoon, and I fancy that Bob’s Bay will be the place to be on Saturday. We love you, Bob! Good luck on Saturday!!

Get ready for Bob-Mania next week! Source: Getty Images