IT might only be the NAB Cup, but relief in victory was evident when Western Bulldogs midfielder Mitch Wallis punched the air in delight at the final siren, following his side’s upset one-point win over Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium tonight.
This young Bulldogs team has suffered its fair share of bad results in recent times, ending last season on an 11-game losing streak and deflated in their opening two pre-season matches by Essendon and Collingwood.
You could sense a weight of pressure lifted off their shoulders of the players and staff from the moment Sons of the West started blaring out of the speakers.
There were plenty of positives for the Bulldogs, not least the main aspect a Brendan McCartney side prides itself on, the hard ball.
The Bulldogs were ferocious in this department, ploughing into the challenges, putting their head over the ball and displaying a hunger that made the Hawks think twice whenever they entered the contested situation.
This was a trait that existed in the Bulldogs last season, but just not for four quarters. It was evident for a quarter here, a half there and occasionally for three quarters, but never for four.
Tonight, the Bulldogs got the rewards for winning the clearances (+11) and the contested ball (+11), ending a nine-month drought.
The mature heads of captain Matthew Boyd, onballer Ryan Griffen and ruckman Will Minson showed the way for the Bulldogs, but the best part of this victory was the efforts across the board. There was no over-reliance on one or two. Every Bulldog who pulled on the predominantly red strip offered a meaningful contribution.
Liam Jones could be the answer to the oft-asked question of who could step up and become a commanding presence on the Bulldogs forward line in the post-Barry Hall era.
Jones, 22, is getting better with every game he plays. He has a safe pair of hands, shows courage in the air and is willing to get to more contests. Too bad he could not put the icing on the cake with multiple goals. Goalkicking is a deficiency, but he jagged one and his set-shot poster in the dying minutes would prove a match-winner.
Jones was the focal point of the attack and his crash and bash brought the crumbers Tory Dickson and Luke Dahlhaus into the game.
In a frantic finish, Dahlhaus electrified the Docklands with a superb running goal, hemmed in on the boundary to cut the deficit to eight points, before midfielder Clay Smith put the Bulldogs in front by a point with a nine-point supergoal.
The Bulldogs held on with clever tempo football for most of the last two minutes, but the Hawks had one final chance when Kyle Cheney gathered the ball off the deck 55 metres out and was preparing to sink his boot into before Boyd made a lunging, match saving tackle.
In other positives for the Dogs, new recruits Koby Stevens and Brett Goodes showed how valuable they could be to the team, while draftees Jackson Macrae and Jake Stringer showed glimpses. There is, however, a concern over Stringer, who hobbled off with an ankle injury, but not before kicking an unbelievable banana goal in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs head west to face the Fremantle Dockers in their last NAB Cup game at Mandurah on Saturday.
Their first home-and-away fixture is against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on March 30.
NAB CUP
Western Bulldogs 1.10.6 (75) d Hawthorn 2.8.8 (74)
Western Bulldogs – Goals: Griffen 2, Murphy, Johannisen, Stevens, Goodes, Jones, Stringer, Dickson, Dahlhaus, Smith (supergoal). Best: Griffen, Boyd, Minson, Dahlhaus, Jones.
Hawthorn – Goals: Franklin 5 (one supergoal), Hale 2, Savage, Smith, Roughead (one supergoal). Best: Franklin, Mitchell, Lewis, Simpkin, Cheney.
