Player Ratings - Round 13

With the season on the line, the Western Bulldogs stormed their way back into the top 8, thanks to a 28-point victory over Melbourne at Metricon Stadium.

After trailing by seven points at half time, a six-goal-to-none third term set up the victory, and helped to give the Bulldogs a clear passage to the finals, with their fate now in their own hands.

3. Mitch Wallis

Continues to be an ultra-reliable forward for the Bulldogs. After managing seven bags of three goals throughout his career (including three this season), Wallis finally managed a career-best four goals, and sees him move up to equal-seventh in the Coleman Medal count with 20 goals for the season(!) We spoke last week about preferring him to have an off day in front of goal when the game wasn't on the line, and given his 4.0 return came in a 28-point win this week, his accuracy was ultimately the difference - 9

Mitch Wallis celebrates one of his four goals. Source: Getty Images

4. Marcus Bontempelli

Starting to get motoring after an inconsistent first half of the year, with three really strong performances in a row now. Managed 18 kicks from his 22 disposals, including a wonderful snap for goal that kickstarted an impressive Bulldogs in in the third term. 742 metres gained from him was ranked a clear No.1 on the ground - 8

5. Josh Dunkley

Attended more ruck duels than Tim English did over the course of the match, yet won just one hitout for the match. The magnets were switched around at half time to ensure Dunkley spent more time playing midfield in the second half, and had a solid impact, but really should be playing there for the entire game. Not his fault - 7

6. Bailey Smith

Another industrious performance from the workhorse, with 26 disposals. Just 14 of them hit the target, although the conditions were particularly difficult, especially when using the ball by foot. His afternoon was capped off by a brilliant running goal during the third term - 7

7. Lachie Hunter

A very similar performance to Smith. His workrate was immense all afternoon, but made a fair few uncharacteristic errors when in possession, particular early, which contributed to a game-high seven clangers. Still, the errors were cancelled out by another important performance - 7

9. Hayden Crozier

Looked a bit out of match practice early, dropping a few marks that you would normally expect him to snaffle. But did go on to settle back nicely into the defensive setup, recording a team-high three intercept marks and five intercept possessions among his 14 for the match - 7

10. Easton Wood

Didn't star to the extent that he did last week, but still performed well to blanket several of Melbourne's dangerous forwards across the course of the match, with four spoils, intercepts, and one percenters - 7

11. Jackson Macrae

Joined Smith and Christian Petracca with a game-high 26 disposals, and hit a target with 23 of them. Also managed a game-high eight tackles and five clearances, but was only involved in one scoring chain for the match - 8

16. Toby McLean

I thought he was more involved in the match than the 13 disposals suggests. Kicked the Bulldogs first goal of the match, and was normally useful with ball in hand, but his numbers don't indicate a great afternoon for him - 6

17. Josh Bruce

Involved in the key move of the afternoon as he was thrown into the ruck in the third term, and the Bulldogs dominated from there. It wasn't necessarily through his ruckwork, as he only managed five hitouts, but it provided the Bulldogs with much more structure in the midfield. A much better backup ruck option than Dunkley - 4

20. Ed Richards

A quiet game, managing just the seven disposals. With the Bulldogs charging towards finals, and a few names looking to force their way into the side, he'll be nervously looking over his shoulder - 2

21. Tom Liberatore

Was the one who got the Bulldogs going early in the match, with three of the Bulldogs first six clearances. Finished with five for the match and 13 contested possessions, and always provided an extra body at the contest to help turn the 50-50 ball the Bulldogs way - 8

23. Laitham Vandermeer

Possess untapped dare, and his desire to charge forward every time he gets the ball is exhilarating to watch. The flipside to that instinctive desire is that he will make mistakes, but with experience he will learn to control his strengths and when to use them, but I can get used to watching him play. At Pick 37 in the 2018 National Draft, he's looking good value so far - 7

It's been mentioned often this season, but the desire of Laitham Vandermeer to run and carry is a treat to watch. Source: Getty Images

25. Ben Cavarra

Has the opportunity to become that pressure forward that we've been lacking. We have a few forwards that have all the tricks, as does Cavarra, but none have that willingness to chase and apply pressure. He made sure he was involved all afternoon, with two of his five tackles being laid inside 50, and was rewarded for his efforts off the ball with the final goal of the match - 6

27. Patrick Lipinski

All that was needed was for that 0.3 to be 3.0 or 2.1, and we would be raving over a return to form. As it is, two of those shots were fairly difficult, including one that hit the post, so we'll let him get away with those. On top of that, the 18 disposals and five score involvements were refreshing to see - 7

33. Aaron Naughton

Came back to Earth somewhat following his six-goal haul last week, failing to even trouble the scorers at all this time. But that's not to say he didn't get involved at all. Wasn't helped with several kicks being sat on his head, and easy for May to pick off, but provided a strong contest all afternoon, and was also able to get involved when the ball hit the ground, most notably setting up a Wallis goal in the third term with a slick handpass - 5

34. Bailey Williams

Didn't let the talk of "Most Improved Player in the Competition" get to his head, gaining 595 metres with his 14 kicks and five handpasses, and rebounded from the defensive 50 eight times. Slaughtered Melbourne in the third term with Daniel and Johannisen off half back, and was duly rewarded with a goal (albeit courtesy of a 50m penalty) - 9

35. Caleb Daniel

Was relatively subdued on the stats sheet this week, recording just the 10 kicks from his 15 disposals, although he did hit a target with 14 of them. The only miscue was an attempted torpedo as he ventured forward for a rare shot on goal late in the game - 7

39. Jason Johannisen

His best game for the year, hands down. He ran and ran all afternoon, regularly gathering the ball, running his full measure, and kicking long and accurately. He had 15 kicks and gained 427 metres, and hit a target with 19 of his 21 disposals for the match, and also had a hand in four scores - 8

42. Alex Keath

Sam Weideman looked to be causing him problems early, as the young Demon kicked two early goals, but was cut out of the game after half time. Keath wasn't as dominant defensively as he has been, but still managed four intercepts and five one-percenters. He was also very good when in possession of the ball, and regularly hit targets when tasked with finding a teammate - 7

43. Ryan Gardner

Hard to believe that this is the same guy that was well beaten by Eric Hipwood only a fortnight ago. Looked supremely confident in defence, and well the way with two intercept marks, and a team-high seven one-percenters and six spoils. Credit where credit is due, it's been a great response from him - 8

44. Tim English

Whether he was being slightly protected by the foot injury, it's hard to know. But it is curious as to why there was a strong reluctance to place him in the ruck this week for too long. Was mostly deployed in the forward line where he didn't enjoy a great deal of success, but managed to clunk a nice mark and convert truly during the Bulldogs third-term blitz - 6

LEADERBOARD:

1. Jackson Macrae - 103 votes

2. Bailey Williams - 93 votes

3. Caleb Daniel - 92 votes

4. Alex Keath - 92 votes

5. Marcus Bontempelli - 90 votes