5 Things We Learned - Round 2

For the fifth time in seven seasons the Western Bulldogs will start the year 2-0 after an epic victory over the West Coast Eagles, which secured our first victory at Marvel Stadium in 596 days since that particular demolition job against Essendon.

To me the game against the Eagles gave off a very strong 2016 vibe with the Bulldogs holding the ascendency for majority of the game, conceding the lead and then ultimately hanging tough to snare a heart attack style victory. We never make it look easy and I’m sure our fan base has aged significantly post game but simply how good was it to be back at home and our fortress.

1) Where The Match Was Won

Even with a West Coast midfield missing Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey, having such an immensely skilled ruckman like Nic Naitanui certainly helps pick up the slack as he terrorised us in the ruck with 11 clearances and 40 hit outs.

There were certainly a fair few nervous supporters (Including myself) with the Bulldogs finding themselves 14 points down at the 10 minute mark of the final quarter, but the combination of Stefan Martin and Tim English finally overcame Naitanui, resulting in Dogs midfield breaking loose in the clearance department to manage a 16-7 advantage which was integral in the seven-point victory.

The hero of the quarter was Jackson Macrae who had six of those clearances; three of them centre clearances, yet he will still somehow be forgotten about in the plaudits and the competitions elite, even if he is getting more recognition for his consistency.

The season was clearly not on the line but with us expecting to challenge for a Premiership in 2021, these are the types of games we need to be winning if we are to progress past the first week and make a serious impact in September.

Jackson Macrae's final quarter masterclass was essential in the Bulldogs overcoming a 14 point deficit in the fourth quarter. Source: Getty Images

2) We need aerial support down back.

Trying to tame the most dangerous forward line in the competition with a backline filled with many undersized players can be quite an intimidating challenge and to do so, it requires plenty of pressure from the midfield or some very strong, mobile one on one defenders.

Alex Keath, who celebrated his 50th AFL game and Ryan Gardner are punching above their weight division and they aren’t the worst key position duo going around for sure but they need some support from our medium defenders for some high ball coverage to not only provide some one on one strength but to kill off the ball as well.

The pending return of Easton Wood might help fix this balance and allow a knock on effect for other players to put their best foot forward and be played to their strengths.

This will of course then allow Bailey Williams to not worry about wrestling gigantic key forwards but instead to go about his business as an rebounding defender and fast track his development into an elite half back in the league and Keath to be more bold in intercepting.

We aren't always going to come up against teams that possess three key position forwards but the absence of Crozier and Wood is not only making opposition tall forwards more dangerous but even those of the medium variety as well.

3) Talls vs Smalls and the combating the Style of Play

Looking at the team sheet pregame there was obviously quite a difference in the way both sides lined up and how they would utilise its weapons at their disposal. West Coast has always been a strong team in the air, while that hasn't generally been the case for us as we tend to prefer controlling the ground ball game.

This was evident with West Coast taking 15 intercept marks, 12 of those coming from the Eagles back six and at quarter time they had seven contested marks to our one. Come full time, we only trailed in that department by one, 15-16.

What changed? Especially as by the end of the third quarter the Eagles had 14 contested marks to our nine.

To beat the Eagles we had to take the game away from the skies, fight it out on ground level and keep the ball moving at great speed to halt this aerial superiority.

This was certainly the case in the fourth quarter where a faster brand of football was displayed which can be seen with our clearance set up that featured Adam Treloar for all eight fourth quarter centre bounces, after he attended just the one in the previous three terms.

On top of that, the positional switch of Lachie Hunter from half forward to his customary wing position (five wing starts in the fourth quarter), helped get him into the game and push Bontempelli forward.

This changed the dynamic of our midfield, moving away from the contested brand to a more fluid style, delivered a cleaner display of forward 50 entries and when you have four of our 13 centre clearances coming in that term alone, it allows for more direct ball movement. This in turn caught West Coast's defence off guard as their back six took just the five marks in the last quarter and just the two contested marks.

4) How clutch is the “Bont”

Set shot. 20 metres out. Pulls it right. It seems a story on repeat with Marcus Bontempelli with his set shot goal kicking over the past few years and it was on display last Friday night against Collingwood at the MCG which would have pushed the margin to five goals. Alas that is not how the “Bont” works and prefers to make the tough look easy and the easy rather difficult.

His incredibly magical matchwinner against Melbourne in 2014, the goals against Adelaide and Port Adelaide in 2016, the Preliminary Final, Essendon 2017, to defeat the Eagles last year and the encore on Sunday afternoon are just a few occasions where the “Bont” has delivered the goods.

He’s done it before and he will do it again on several more occasions with us throughout the rest of his career. Simply built for the big moments and someone you can rely upon to get the job done.

Bontempelli might not be our best shot at goal but he definitely knows how to come up trumps in a big moment.

30 possessions, seven inside 50s, 14 score involvements, five clearances, 10 contested possessions, six marks and three goals including the match winner… That is a captain’s game and a half.

Hurry up and sign that contract extension!

Marcus Bontempelli is a pretty reasonable player.... Source: Getty Images

5) The man they call “Truck”

I discussed Bailey Smith last week, so I feel it is certainly more than appropriate to show some love to the second of the three Bailey’s on our list in Bailey Williams.

Quickly becoming one of our most reliable and best players in the line-up, Williams was once again outstanding against a very tall Eagles forward line. Coach Luke Beveridge mentioned in his press conference post game that Williams is “battling manfully” and is “almost our third key defender at times” which is off course in reference to finding himself on Eagles key forward Oscar Allen and Magpies Mason Cox the week before.

At times on Sunday afternoon, Williams also found himself on Eagles star forward in Josh Kennedy which left even the most ardent of Bulldogs supported bewildered but fortunately he was able to get off the chain at times and cause mayhem with his precise, long kicking and creativity.

We all know Williams had the talent after he showed plenty of positive signs across 2016 to 2018 before a lull in 2019 but to see his transformation over the past 12 months, he has made himself an essential member of the team.