Player Ratings - Round 1

The Western Bulldogs 2023 campaign got off to a disappointing start last Saturday, falling to Melbourne by 50 points at the MCG.

Second-best for most of the night, the Bulldogs managed to at least keep within a few goals for most of the game, before fading away in the final term.

1. Adam Treloar

Was one of the few Bulldogs who looked liked they could make something happen over the course of the night. Tried hard to break the game open, but only gained 214 metres from his 32 possessions, which included 21 handpasses. Kicked an important goal to teach the Dogs in touch late in the third term, but went at just 54% by foot – 6

2. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

Looked the most convincing of the Bulldogs four tall forwards, particularly early. Had plenty of opportunities at goal in the first half, which including a lovely set shot to put the Bulldogs in front in the opening term, but it was his early major in a return of 1.3. Fumbled a chest mark on the goal line, just before Melbourne got a run on, and had little impact thereafter – 5

4. Marcus Bontempelli

Takes the honor of being the Bulldogs first goal-scorer of the season; an instinctive snap in a tight area, but missed a crucial set shot midway during the second term that would’ve put the Bulldogs 13 points ahead. He worked hard for his 25 disposals, but like many of his teammates, was poor by foot, going at just 38% efficiency with his 13 kicks – 6

6. Bailey Smith

42% by foot (noticing a trend here?). Another hard worker over the course of the night, gaining 623 metres with his 27 disposals, but made the headlines more for being of the receiving end of a callous torpedo-style bump from Kysiah Pickett. Fortunately, Smith managed to play out the game – 5

7. Rory Lobb

The good news is that all Lobb’s kick went at 100% efficiency. The bad news is that it was all two of them. Failed to score from just two marks from his six disposals in what was a listless club debut. We now know he was almost a late out and he won’t play against the Saints this week after undergoing ankle surgery, but it was still a poor performance – 1

10. Sam Darcy

0.1 from six disposals and took just one mark; his performance highlighted by completely missing the ball when attempting to soccer through an effort from the goal square. We’re talking about a kid in his 5th game, so these sort of performances will crop up from time to time. Only played 58% of the game – 1

11. Jackson Macrae

Often unfairly criticised for not being damaging enough, but this was one of the few occasions where the criticism is warranted. Picked up 33 disposals, but wasn’t really noticeable over the course of the evening. Kicked an important goal late in the third term that kept the Bulldogs within 15 points, but two late Melbourne goals put an end to whatever hope the Bulldogs had left – 6

Jackson Macrae's goal late in the third term was one of the rare moments where he significantly impact proceedings. Source: Getty Images

13. Oskar Baker

Had an opportunity to make a real statement against his former club, but fell short of the impressive performance he put in against North Melbourne only a fortnight ago, collecting just 13 disposals and gaining 313 metres overall. Did his best to rev up the team in the third term, kicking a long-range goal from outside 50 – 4

15. Taylor Duryea

The chief mid-sized defender in the Bulldogs backline was largely ineffective across the night, failing to keep any of Melbourne’s small forwards in check. Pickett kicked four goals, Spargo kicked two and had a hand in a further three, while Kyle Chandler also contributed to three goals of his own – 3

16. Toby McLean

Introduced into the game in the second half, but failed to have any meaningful impact as the Bulldogs struggled their way through the contest. Just the one kick from his five disposals – 3

17. Josh Bruce

His three intercept marks were a team-high, but I’m still yet to be convinced by this move, and watching Ben Brown help himself to four goals did little to change my mind. I just don’t think Bruce has what is required to play in defence. The injury to Lobb may see him moved forward this week – 3

19. Liam Jones

Took a nice intercept mark in the opening term, only for the subsequent kick to be smothered. It was his only contribution for the match after he was subbed out at half time due to what was described as a knock to the neck. Scans have cleared him of any structural damage, but he’s no guarantee of playing this week. Someone have argued the Bulldogs fell away from the moment he was removed from play, but it is concerned that all it takes for the system to fall apart is for a 32-year-old to pick up a knock – 1

20. Ed Richards

Can hold his head up high as one of the Bulldogs better performers of the night, particularly in the first half. Again, his disposal efficiency by foot was only 47%, but his 609m gained was second only to Bailey Smith, and of his 27 disposals, 16 of them were intercepts - comfortably the most of any player on the ground - and his 13 ground-ball intercepts was a league record – 8

21. Tom Liberatore

Another who toiled away all night, but had very little in the way of support. Collected 32 disposals, 12 of which were contested, was well as picking up seven clearances and laying six tackles, before capping off his display with the Bulldogs only goal in the final term. Still an important cog in the midfield – 7

28. Anthony Scott

Like Baker on the opposite wing, Scott wasn’t able to continue on the good pre-season form he had shown, despite some bright moments early in the game. Only managed the 13 disposals across the night, and didn’t hit the scoreboard – 4

29. Mitch Hannan

Deserved his opportunity after a five-goal haul in the VFL, but failed to have any impact once again. Playing as a forward once again, he took one mark from his six disposals and failed to score. It was a disappointing performance, and one we have seen all too often in his 25 games for the Bulldogs – 1

31. Bailey Dale

He went at 80% by foot from his 15 kicks and gained 511 metres. The problem was that he only managed 19 disposals over the course of the night – 5

Bailey Dale used the ball well when he did have it, but needed to have more than 15 kicks over the course of the night. Source: Getty Images

33. Aaron Naughton

Missed a golden chance in the goal square early on, although his blushes were spared as the umpire had stopped play. Took three impressive marks inside 50, but only kicked 1.2 for the night, missing some crucial and very gettable chances in front of goal, which is also a tale far too familiar. The big pack marks are a waste of effort if you’re not going to make the most of them – 4

34. Bailey Williams

His showing was much better than the nightmare performance last year, where he had six turnovers that led directly to goals. This time he managed to actually find the big sticks, but it was otherwise a largely quiet performance, despite the 18 disposals – 4

35. Caleb Daniel

This was the first time I’ve left a match thinking he needs to be moved out of the backline. His 29 disposals resulted in five clangers, most of which took place inside the defensive 50. But it wasn’t just the kicks that failed to find targets that hurt us. The short, 15m dinks didn’t break the game open like they needed to. Instead, they left us still stagnant inside the defensive 50, and only serving to allow Melbourne more time to set up defensively. It slowed us down far too often, making it more difficult for us to move the ball forward, failing to open up the play for us even when the kicks did come off, and costing us dearly when they didn’t. Those sort of kicks would be much better served at half-forward – 2

39. Jason Johannisen

Maybe it’s a case of Daniel and Johannisen swapping places, because the move up forward isn’t working for JJ, either. His goal in the second term was a craft little swivel and snap, but it was just his 24th goal in the 34 games he’s played as this small forward; it’s clear the experiment isn’t going to bear the fruit the Dogs are after. Dropped a costly chest mark in defence late in the third term that cost the Dogs a goal, along with any hope of a comeback victory – 2

42. Alex Keath

Round 1 last year he spent most of the night trying in vain to keep close to Ben Brown. This year it was Pickett who he struggled to keep up with. Why our tallest defender was being pitted against the pacy livewire isn’t something I think I’ll ever understand, but it ended as well as you might expect. His team-high seven clangers wasn’t ideal, either – 3

44. Tim English

Had I written this immediately after the game, his score would’ve been much lower. I think I originally underestimated his ruck work over the course of the night, with his 22 hitouts ranked No.1 on the ground, despite having to contend with the two best rucks in the game in Gawn (21) and Grundy (12). Losing the count overall was always going to be likely, but it was much more even that I anticipated, as were the hitout-to-advantage numbers among the three (10-6). I still maintain he needs to be far more aggressive going forward and start throwing his weight around, particularly against smaller opponents, but his numbers were generally good. He had 24 disposals, laid four tackles, and three of his six marks were intercepts - 7