Player Ratings - Round 4

The Western Bulldogs' two-game winning streak was broken on Saturday night, falling to Geelong by just four points at the Adelaide Oval.

Despite trailing by as much as 28 points late in the third term, the Bulldogs staged a late rally in the final term, but ultimately fell short.

As every week, The Salty Bulldog's Matthew Donald has gone through each of the 23 players who played in the game, and has marked each of them out of 10.

1. Adam Treloar

Among the Bulldogs best on Saturday night. His 37 disposals was a game-high, but also had six clearances, five tackles and seven score involvements, including a last-quarter goal to keep the Bulldogs in touch. But loses points for his use of the ball. He went at 59% efficiency overall, and just 31% by foot. Not great – 7

2. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan

Gains points for a strong last quarter, where he started to impose himself in the air, taking a few strong marks and booting an important goal to keep the Bulldogs’ hopes alive. But loses marks for his first three quarters, where he barely impacted the game, and a costly miss early in the last term as the Bulldogs were starting to build momentum. Has really struggled to influence games since Round 1 – 5

3. Cody Weightman

With a strapped-up elbow, Weightman sunk his teeth into the contest from the opening bounce, and made the most of limited opportunity to produce a strong game for the Bulldogs. He only managed nine disposals all night, but still managed 2.0. Yet it was his pressure that stood out this week. Only three players laid more tackles than him (8), and no-one bettered his four tackles inside-50 – 8

4. Marcus Bontempelli

Bounced straight back to his best this week. A 35-disposal effort was his best return so far this season, but complemented it with 10 tackles, seven clearances, a game-high 638m gained, and a gorgeous goal on the run during the third term – 9

9. Ryley Sanders

Aside from running in the wrong direction during the opening term, he was solid. “Solid” seems to be a word used rather frequently when describing Sanders this year. Overall, he managed 23 disposals, five clearances and six tackles, but curiously, played just 64% of the game on the ground – 6

10. Sam Darcy

The most influential big man on the ground for the Bulldogs. Remarkably, he only managed 55% game time, but had a major impact in the time he did spend on field. He booted 3.0 from 12 disposals, and recorded eight hitouts (including five to advantage) from just 22 contests. What was most encouraging was that the goals came in different ways, from strong pack marks to terrific tackling. Fully deserved the Rising Star nomination that came from this performance – 9

Sam Darcy was excellent despite limited game time, kicking three goals. Source: Getty Images

11. Jackson Macrae

Luke Beveridge stunned a lot of people when he named Macrae as the sub, but Macrae ensured his presence was felt from the moment he came onto the ground. Laid a strong tackle within minutes of being subbed on halfway during the third, and was instrumental early in helping the Bulldogs win back control in the midfield. Finished with six disposals and three tackles in a handy little cameo, but it’s hard to know what happens from here – 5

12. Harvey Gallagher

Fresh off a Rising Star nomination of his own, Gallagher kicked the Bulldogs first goal of the game - the first of five score involvements – in a performance that included 15 disposals. The trade-off of players like Macrae and Caleb Daniel being shuffled to the side is that we get to see more of players like Gallagher and Sanders, who both continue to develop nicely – 5

13. Oskar Baker

Made some crucial interventions in the Bulldogs defensive 50 at times, regularly providing himself as an option to help get teammates out of trouble. It explains why two-thirds of his 16 disposals were in the defensive half. But he still had an impact in the front half, with two goal assists, all while using the ball at an economic 94% efficiency – 7

14. Rhylee West

Of the Bulldogs small forwards there’s a strong argument for West being the best of the three. His determination to keep the ball moving was the catalyst for the Bulldogs first goal of the game, while each of his two majors (one before half-time and one before three-quarter time) played massive roles in keeping the Bulldogs in the hunt. He also had eight score involvements, which was second among all Bulldogs – 8

15. Taylor Duryea

Demonstrated his bravery over the course of the night, taking four intercept marks, but that’s never been a part of his game that has come into question. The issue that has cropped up in recent times has been his ability to keep opposition small forwards under wraps, and Tyson Stengle’s four-goal haul proved decisive in such a close finish. Registered seven spoils and eight of his 16 disposals were intercepts – 5

19. Liam Jones

For the first time since 2010, Tom Hawkins failed to kick a goal against the Bulldogs. Liam Jones is the one to thank for that. Jones only had the nine disposals for the game, but he took a game-high seven intercept marks, regularly thwarting Geelong attacks, and was one of the few to keep the Bulldogs in the contest over the four quarters – 9

20. Ed Richards

Back in the side, and was ok, but far from perfect. Gained 488m from his 21 disposals, although had a kicking efficiency of just 66%. Will be better for it in the long term – 6

21. Tom Liberatore

Herculean. 35 disposals, 28 contested possessions, a club record 19(!) clearances, 10 score involvements nine tackles, and a third-quarter goal. It’s quite amazing that a performance like this can end up on the losing side, because he could not have done anymore. It normally takes an extraordinary performance to earn a 10 here at The Salty Bulldog, but this was an extraordinary performance – 10

Tom Liberatore was immense on Saturday, and deserves The Salty Bulldog's first 10 of the season. Source: Getty Images

23. Laitham Vandermeer

When a game is decided by just four points, fans often reflect on the crucial moments that decide the game. Unfortunately for Vandermeer, few were more crucial than his third-term miss – gathering the ball and running into an open goal, only to just miss. What made matter worse was Geelong going straight up the other end and goaling from the kick-in. It was the defining moment in a performance that included a lot of effort (14 disposals and six inside-50s) but not much in end product – 4

24. Buku Khamis

Yes, his direct opponent in Jeremy Cameron had a fine game, and with accurate kicking it could’ve been a huge night. But despite that, you can’t convince me that Khamis didn’t have a terrific game on his own. All six of his marks were intercepts, his 10 intercept possessions were game-high, and despite being caught in three defensive one-on-one contests, he didn’t lose any of them. Used the ball well, too, going at 90% efficiency. Bulldogs fans for years have been crying out for a chief intercepting defender; they might just finally have it – 9

29. Lachie Bramble

His first involvement in the game was to line up a 50m set shot front directly in front. It went out on the full. It set the tone for what was his worst game yet this season. He only had the 12 disposals, two intercepts, and kicked at just 66& efficiency – 4

31. Bailey Dale

Didn’t have a great game off half back. 16 disposals, but gained just 258m, and went at a kicking efficiency of 66%. Was thrown forward later on in the game, but failed to score – 4

33. Aaron Naughton

It’s going to take a bit of time to adjust to judging Naughton’s performances solely based on the goals:behinds column, given this new role that involves him playing higher up the ground. He had enjoyed an encouraging fortnight of impacting the scoreboard indirectly, but that wasn’t really there on Saturday night. He managed just four score involvements from his 15 disposals, and didn’t score at all. He did take six marks and laid three-tackles inside-50, but maybe he needs more time to adjust to the role – 4

34. Bailey Williams

Gave the Bulldogs hope with a late goal, but it just the last of only six kicks for the night, making up a third of his 18 disposals, with only three of those being intercept possessions. Was also a bit down on his last fortnight – 4

35. Caleb Daniel

Another senior Bulldog that concerns are beginning to rise over. He wasn’t terrible; 11 disposals at 81% efficiency in just over a half of football, but very little impact, before eventually being subbed out. It doesn’t help that he looks like he’s currently playing like a man without a role, but it felt like a bit of a nothing showing – 3

39. Jason Johannisen

A bit down on his usual game, too. Just the 15 disposals at 73% efficiency. He rebounded the defensive-50 twice and went inside-50 only once - 5

44. Tim English

Another English performance that looks better on the stats sheet than it did on the television. His opponent Rhys Stanely won the hitout count 44-38, although impressively, English won the hitout-to-advantage count 19-11. English couldn’t impact across the ground like he did last week, winning 17 disposals, four marks and four clearances. It wasn’t a disastrous display, but not one that was among his best - 5