Player Ratings - Round 2

On a night where Footscray’s history was celebrated, acknowledging 100 years since its admission into the V/AFL, the undermanned Bulldogs drew on the fighting spirit that the club has become renowned for on Friday night, pushing a near full-strength Collingwood side all the way in front of a record crowd at the MCG.

In front of 78,024 (a record home-and-away crowd for a Bulldogs game), Footscray came from behind at three quarter time to drew level with the Pies late in the final term, but came up short in the dying minutes

7. Rory Lobb

The blue-dyed defender led the backline well, having to contend with teammates that provided both a lack of aerial support and a lack of experience. Due to needing to assume a more defensively-minded role he managed just the two intercept marks, but recorded a team-high nine spoils. Drew the ire of the Magpie Army in the final term, when an attempted spoil accidentally collected Mason Cox in the face – 7

8. Matt Kennedy

Kennedy produced another industrial performance on Friday, as he rapidly endears himself to the Bulldogs faithful. While the starpower remains sidelined, Kennedy continues to bring the muscle to the midfield, amassing four tackles and three clearances to go with his 21 disposals. His defensive work allows the likes of Ed Richards and Tom Liberatore to be more aggressive out of the centre, and one can only imagine what sort of freedom he’ll allow the likes of Bontempelli and Treloar to enjoy once they return - 7

9. Ryley Sanders

Worked hard for his 16 disposals, laying seven tackles in the process, but had just three kicks all night and didn’t record a single clearance. It is still early days in his career, but he has a long way to go to justify that Pick 6 price tag – 4

10. Sam Darcy

It’s inconceivable that Sam Darcy was playing in just his 30th game of league football on Friday night. Lined up against Darcy Moore, the Collingwood captain was simply no match for the Bulldogs No.10, who was clearly the dominant big man on the ground, kicking three goals in the first half. Missed two big chances in the third term and faded from the match thereafter, but returned to kick an important goal in the final term to keep the Bulldogs in touch. A big performance on a big occasion – 8

12. Harvey Gallagher

Was better this week when it came to using the ball, committing just one clanger with his 16 disposals, but still comes across as a player that tries to do everything a little bit too quickly. Showcased his speed

and desperation to terrific effect, but that poise and composure is still somewhat lacking in his game – 5

13. Oskar Baker

Started as the sub and was brought into the game at three quarter time to try and inject some run into the Bulldogs. Gathered the five disposals, mainly while playing in the defensive half, but didn’t quite bring enough to the table to get the Bulldogs over the line – 4

14. Rhylee West

Only had the 10 disposals, but made the most of the limited opportunities he was given. Kicked an important goal in the third term to keep the Bulldogs in touch, and had six score involvements, including two goal assists- 6

Rhylee West enjoyed a low-possession, high-impact game on Friday, which included a goal in the third term. Source: Getty Images

15. Taylor Duryea

Another below-par performance from Duryea – a bit of a concern to start the season. He managed five intercept possessions, but turned it over four times out of the 11 disposals he had overall, with Collingwood’s small forwards having a big impact in a low-scoring game. His horror handpass early in the final term gifted Collingwood a soft goal and arrested crucial momentum – 3

20. Ed Richards

Has stepped up in the absence of some of the Bulldogs big-name stars, and right now feels like he accepted the responsibility of being the Bulldogs star player, regularly leading the charge out of the midfield. Recording 27 disposals, 10 inside-50s five clearances and 644m gained, Richards never shirked the challenge of taking the game on, consistently driving the Bulldogs into attack – 8

21. Tom Liberatore

It felt inevitable that on such a big night for Footscray, Tom Liberatore was going to produce a performance worthy on the occasion. The acting captain led from the front all night, recording team-highs in disposals (34), contested possessions (18), clearances (9) and centre clearances (4). His disposal was terrific all night, often even having the confidence to hit targets on his non-preferred right boot, and drifted forward to kick a team-lifting goal late in the game, to draw the Bulldogs to within a kick – 9

22. James Harmes

It was another hard-working performance from Harmes, but it just didn’t quite carry the impact of his showing from last week. Had just three kicks all night, but one of them was a well-taken set shot in the second term – 5

23. Laitham Vandermeer

Carried on his form from last week quite nicely early on, kicking a goal in the opening term and getting himself involved in the action with some strong marking and neat use of the ball. But his impact waned as the match went on. Despite that, it does feel as though he has improved a great deal compared to last year – 5

24. Buku Khamis

One of the two inclusions from last week’s win, Khamis produced a mixed performance. There were some good moments, with a couple of fine intercept marks, and his usually unpredictable disposal was sound enough, but some of his defending left a bit to be desire. Regularly found himself caught out of position as a result of misreading the play, and some of his spoils were ill-directed, both errors result in the concession of crucial goals in the third term. With Liam Jones and James O’Donnell both in the frame for a return next Friday night, Khamis may find himself back in the reserves once again – 4

26. Josh Dolan

Another quiet outing for the first-year player, who struggled to have an impact on the big stage. After a slow first half, he did start to get involved in the contest a bit more during the third term, but fell away once again, failing to record a disposal in the last term, finishing the night with seven touches, one tackle and no score – 2

27. Joel Freijah

Uncharacteristically untidy with his disposal in the first half, Freijah lifted considerably after the main break, recording 17 disposals in the second half, including a 10-touch final term with the game on the line. The highlight of his game came late in the match, when he showed great anticipation to intercept a Collingwood kick in the middle of the ground, before running his full measure and tying the scores with a composed effort from outside 50 – 8

Joel Freijah drew Footscray level with a composed finish in the final term. Source: Getty Images

29. Lachie Bramble

A rare quiet game from Bramble, who finished with just eight disposals while his direct opposition in the Collingwood forward line proved threatening all night. It’s just the second time in his Bulldogs career that Bramble has failed to reach 15 disposals in a match; the other time came against Collingwood last year – 2

30. Lachie McNeil

Started the game brightly, and found himself in space a number of times inside 50, but similar to Vandermeer, his impact on the game decreased as the match progressed, finishing with just one goal from six disposals – 4

31. Bailey Dale

Marshalled the Bulldogs drive out of half back all night, gaining 554m with his 31 disposals with 90% disposals efficiency. Did his job defensively as well, with his nine intercept possessions a team-high. After a sluggish start to last year he is well and truly back to his best – 8

32. Arthur Jones

Given the opportunity to start this week, but failed to make the most of the chance, with just seven disposals and no score. His lack of impact was reflected in Luke Beveridge’s decision to sub him out at three quarter time, with no guarantee that he’ll be able to keep his place – 2

33. Aaron Naughton

A quiet outing from him, picking up just 11 disposals and no score. Despite his lack of impact up forward, he was thrown into the ruck in the final term, and when he was used there the Bulldogs suddenly looked much more dynamic and dangerous - 4

34. Bailey Williams

With the Bulldogs lack of defensive height, Williams was forced to play as a makeshift tall defender, and look much more solid on Friday night. It meant his attacking game was somewhat lacking, but his role in keeping Collingwood’s trio of tall forwards relatively subdued played a big part of keeping the Bulldogs in the match – 7

42. Sam Davidson

Had a bigger impact this week compared to his debut, getting involved in the play a lot more, finishing the match with 15 disposals. Only went at 53% efficiency by foot, but has already shown that he is confident enough to back himself at this level; namely with a double-sidestep in the final term that led to a Bulldogs goal - 6

44. Tim English

Enjoyed a rare win in the ruck, recording more hitouts (33-26) and hitouts to advantage (9-8) than his direct opponent in Darcy Cameron. But it was his work around the ground – the part of his game that he is normally so strong in – that let him down. Constantly led to the ball by his direct opponent, he was regularly caught a few metres off the marking pack, and when he was involved, he fumbled a number of straightforward marks, particularly in the third term - 5