Player Ratings - Round 9

The Western Bulldogs suffered their first defeat in a month on Saturday night, going down to the Gold Coast Suns by 10 points at TIO Stadium.

After trailing by 28 points at the 20-minute mark in the final term, the Bulldogs rallied late, kicking four goals in seven minutes to give them a chance at an unlikely victory, but the comeback ultimately fell short.

4. Marcus Bontempelli

Started the match strongly, picking up 12 disposals in the opening term alone. Wasn’t able to maintain that sort of impact as the match progressed, but still finished the night with 28 disposals, most of which were won in the defensive half. Did kick a late goal to keep the Bulldogs charge going, but it was the lone major after kicking three behinds earlier in the match - 7

7. Rory Lobb

Spent most of the match on Ben King, with honours arguably shared by full time. King had two goals to his name by three quarter time, at which point Lobb was thrown forward in an attempt to try and win the game. The only point of note for Lobb was when he rolled his ankle in a marking contest in the goal square, but played the game out. Finished with nine disposals and four intercepts - 6

8. Matthew Kennedy

When no other Bulldog could serve as a reliable route to goal, Kennedy stood up in the first half, booting three of the team’s first four goals to keep the Bulldogs in touch. He finished the match with seven tackles, but his 19 disposals and two clearances were both season-low efforts - 7

9. Ryley Sanders

Had a number of moments that he would’ve liked to have again when contesting the ball during the game, including one moment where he was beaten to the ball by an injured Will Graham. He managed just one clearance all match, but it was an impressive minute from him as he followed up from the resulting clearance to kick his only goal for the match. Had the footy 19 times for just five kicks - 4

12. Harvey Gallagher

Came back into the side and was introduced as the sub early in the last term. Showed his usual industry and wasted no time throwing himself into the contest, with his chaotic energy perfectly suited to the frenetic finish, with five disposals and two inside-50s. Looked to pick up an injury in the dying seconds of the contest - 5

14. Rhylee West

Arguably the Bulldogs’ most reliable forward on the night. Led the way with four marks inside 50, but finished with 2.3. His two goals both came at an important time for the Bulldogs; one just before the quarter-time break to keep the Bulldogs in touch, and another at the start of the final term to kickstart the late charge - 8

18. James O’Donnell

Starred in defence for the Bulldogs. Spent most of the night lined up against Jed Walter, and not only did O’Donnell keep him scoreless from five disposals, he intercepted everything that came his way. He enjoyed career-highs everywhere, including from intercept possessions (12), marks (11), intercept marks (6), and defensive-50 rebounds (9). It was easily the best performance of his career - 10 

20. Ed Richards

Even in the slippery conditions that Darwin poses, Richards demonstrated his class throughout, turning the ball over just three times from his 31 possessions. He gained more distance with his disposals than any other player on the ground (810), and also finished with nine score involvements, including a terrific kick from outside 50 in the third term - 9

21. Tom Liberatore

Responded to a down performance last week with his best game so far this year. For basketball fans Liberatore completed the Australian Rules equivalent of a quadruple-double: 35 disposals, 11 score involvements, 10 clearances, 10 tackles, almost single-handedly getting the Bulldogs over the line. Put himself in line for the three Brownlow votes too, which is a rare feat for a player on the losing side - 10 

22. James Harmes

Didn’t have a particularly great game. Managed just three clearances from his 13 disposals, with only two of those touches leading to a score - 4

23. Laitham Vandermeer

Responded to a quiet first half with an important third term, kicking two important goals just as the game looked to be slipping away from the Bulldogs. It’s the first time he has kicked multiple goals since Round 1, but was unable to build on it in the last quarter, being subbed out due to calf tightness - 6

Laitham Vandermeer's two goals in the third term kept the Bulldogs in touch. Source: Getty Images

24. Buku Khamis

Played as an undersized key forward once again, and while he had some good moments at times - most notably a snap for goal in the third term - he was largely absent for most of the game. He had just six disposals and failed to take a mark inside 50 -3

25. Caleb Poulter

Got himself involved in the play a fair bit, with 17 disposals, eight marks and six score involvements, but it was his two efforts on goal that stand out in particular, and for all the wrong reasons. The first was from a tight angle in the opening term that sailed out of the full; the second was a set shot from 35m that he caught so badly that not only did it sail wide, but it failed to make the distance. It undid a lot of the hard work he did during the game, and it’ll be interesting to see if he keeps his spot - 5

27. Joel Freijah

A 24-disposal performance with six score involvements was a pretty solid return from the second-year player, but it was mixed in with that was a lot of fumbling, uncharacteristic from a player who is usually regarded as a very clean user of the footy. To be fair, he certainly wasn’t the only player who had trouble controlling the ball, but it will serve as a unique learning experience for a player who was still serviceable on the night - 7 

29. Lachie Bramble

Finished with just 16 disposals for the game, but for a player who has developed a reputation for being one of the best kicks at the club, was uncharacteristically below-par with his distribution, finishing with an efficiency of 58% by foot. Played a hand in just three scores and recorded only one rebound - 5

30. Lachie McNeil

Continued his run of booting a goal in every game he has played so far in 2025, with his major coming in the final term. Registered six score involvements from 10 disposals, and laid three tackles in a good showing - 7

31. Bailey Dale

The Bulldogs largely struggled to move the ball out of the backline on Saturday, but Dale rarely had such issues. Kicking the ball 23 times out of the 31 disposals he had, Dale recording an efficiency of 87%, while rebounding out of defensive 50 nine times. The fact he only has five score involvements points to how difficult the Bulldogs found it to transition the ball from end-to-end - 8

33. Aaron Naughton

A very quiet night from the key forward. Naughton was well held by the Suns defence all game, restricted to just eight disposals and two marks. His only score for the game gave the Bulldogs the lead in the third quarter, but it was a simple miss from the goalsquare - 2

34. Bailey Williams

Wasn’t afforded the luxury of being able to get up the ground as much as he’d like, given the Bulldogs struggles with clearing the ball out of defence. Almost 80% of his disposals were won in the defensive half, but the positive is that we went at 100% efficiency. He also won the ball back eight times, but played a hand in just two scores - 7

36. Luke Cleary

Defensively Cleary was reasonably solid on Saturday night, with six intercept possessions and two intercept marks both showing his worth to the backline. With ball in hand he was a little shaky, with a couple of fumbles deep in defence sending Bulldogs supporters into panic, but his 15 disposals wernt at 87% efficiency, which is a good performance. For as long as he’s been on the list, it’s easy to forget that this was just his 13th game - 6

Luke Cleary is continuing to grow in the Bulldogs backline. Source: Getty Images

39. Jason Johannisen

A solid game, with 21 disposals and seven marks, and even though that came at an efficiency of 81%, there wasn’t a lot of damage to his game. Johannisen gained just 290m, and only recorded three score involvements, and even though he managed six rebounds, he failed to send the Bulldogs inside attacking 50 at all - 6

42. Sam Davidson

Was ok for three quarters, playing his usual role on the wing where he worked hard without a lot of rewards. Those rewards did start to come his way in the final quarter, however, when he got forward to kick two important goals which started the Bulldogs late fightback - 6

44. Tim English

Against a much more physical opponent in Jarrod Witts, English put up a strong fight, but was ultimately outmuscled in the ruck battle, losing the hitout count 38-32 and the hitout to advantage count 8-7. Around the ground English worked hard, and although it only amounted to 13 disposals, he still generated eight score involvements - 7