5 Things We Learned - Round 1

It was great to be back at the footy after a tumultuous 2020 and to see our boys get our 2021 season underway in the best possible way as we collected the four premiership points. We probably should have won by a lot more than 16 points but simply getting the ball rolling for the year is a tick in the box and we can look for more improvement in the rounds to come.

1) Where The Match Was Won

In a tight game, generally scores from turnovers can be the difference in who leaves the stadium with four premiership points in their back pocket or not. On Friday night, this was not the case with 70 (35 to either side) of the 122 total points coming via turnovers.

We all know the Western Bulldogs possess an incredibly deep midfield and that is where the point of difference occurred as the Bulldogs outscored Collingwood in stoppages, 34-16. This included three goals to none from centre bounce clearances which came from our advantage 11-8 centre clearance differential.

No doubt nullifying Brodie Grundy’s impact in the ruck; who has torn us a new one on more than one occasion, with a two-ruck setup helped our cause, as did laying 17 tackles inside 50 which preventing the Magpies from transitioning the ball across the ground but goals from a centre clearance allow you to dictate terms in the middle and that's exactly what we did.

2) Fear the Beard? You should Fear the Mullet instead!

Bailey Smith was nothing short of amazing on Friday night against the Magpies, putting them to the sword with 36 possessions, 23 kicks, eight marks, five inside 50s, 526 metres gained, seven score involvements, five intercept possessions and two goals. It was quite simply a top-notch performance.

Smith also had 22 sprint efforts, the equal most on the ground with Magpies John Noble but had the highest repeat sprint efforts with seven, three clear of Bailey Williams and Marcus Bontempelli highlighting his defensive game.

Coming into his third season many Bulldogs supporters have watched Smith closely over the past two years and have been impressed with his attitude, hard running, flair and point of difference he brings to our midfield division.

Last week AFLW star Daisy Pearce put Smith down as a smokey for the Brownlow Medal which obviously seems a bit far fetched but it just speaks volume of what people believe he is capable of achieving.

After a very impressive first couple of years in the AFL, the phrase “Star on the rise” might not be uttered much longer about Smith if puts in performances like Friday night on regular basis, it will see him join the competitions elite.

Smith started on the wing on 14 of the 20 centre bounces and seems to make the position his own in 2021.

Bailey Smith not only had the ball on a string but was best on ground, winning the Bob Rose-Charlie Sutton Medal. Source: Getty Images

3) Distributing the Midfield Minutes

With the retention of Josh Dunkley and the acquisition of Adam Treloar, many questions were asked about how the Bulldogs would rotate its star-studded midfield and allocate time on the ball.

Some of those questions were answered on Friday night with Treloar attending just the two centre bounces and started on the wing on six occasions while Dunkley found himself taking 13 centre bounces.

Interestingly enough long-time wingman Lachlan Hunter had just the six starts on the wing and none before half time as he found himself regularly lining up on the half forward flank, a position he hasn’t played in since early 2015.

Of course, this is only the opening round and there will certainly be continual adjustments throughout the course of the year but it bodes well in terms of us understanding how to balance and accommodate our players best attributes with majority of our midfielders putting in exceptionally strong performances.

4) Inefficiency going forward or just a damn resolute defence?

For most of Friday night it might as well have been the Western Bulldogs playing the Darcy Moore Football Club because he was unpassable down back, taking eight intercept marks alone (Collingwood had 22), in comparison to our 11.

According to Champion Data, the amount of ball entering our 50 (60 I50s), would have seen us expected to kick 94 points in contrast to the 69 we found ourselves on but I think that says more about how good Collingwood’s defence is then our wastefulness going forward and the Magpies defence is certainly in the top echelon in the competition.

Keep up that sort of inside 50 domination and the wheel will eventually turn, which will see us break sides and kick some monster scores in the process. Even though that has not been the case over recent years, the availability of two fully fit key position forwards in Aaron Naughton and Josh Bruce should see that rectify over the course of the season.

5) They call him Bruce!

It wasn’t a great goal kicking night for Josh Bruce as he registered just the one goal from four shots but it was arguably his best performance as a Western Bulldog, playing the type of football that made him one of the more underrated key forwards from 2015 to 2019 at St Kilda and what we expected last season.

It wasn’t just the 11 marks Bruce took but the manner in which he did as he moved freely around the ground and presented up to the wings, using that big engine of his to deliver four inside 50s, the second most for a key position player on the night behind Naughton’s six.

Dropping six or seven kilograms over the preseason looks to have certainly helped add a bit more spring to his step after a below par 2020.

On another night he’ll play worse than Friday night’s performance and end up with four goals but the game against the Magpies was more what we expected in 2020. 2021 is all about redemption for Bruce.

There was much to like from key forward Josh Bruce against Collingwood. Source: Getty Images