Not just the Dogs lowest score this season, but their lowest score EVER.
7 Likes
Gaylor is going to be a star
7 Likes
If weâd played Gaylor back, we could have kept the Dogs to a lower score!
1 Like
Best on tonightâŚshe is so clean with her hands. Iâd say right now she would be winning the BânâF.
3 Likes
Jokes aside. She is an absolute jet. Loved her up on the wing tonight. Iâm not sure there isnât anything she not naturally good at!
2 Likes
P.S. A Saints/Port draw next week would be convenient.
1 Like
Good call!
You will know it, and you will like it.
Knows how to be the out, and how to move the ball on quickly to advantage. 22 disposals and 9 marks tonight.
3 Likes
AFLW personal best for disposals two weeks in a row: 29 tonight, from a game that likely didnât reach 75 minutes.
Give her the medal already.
6 Likes
Thatâs a paddlinâ.
6 Likes
- Millzy tells @barnz to go forth and multiply
- There is no doubt that we have the best Georgia Clark[e] in the league. Has stepped up massively: 25 disposals at 92% efficiency, 8 intercepts, 10 marks in a game with minimal Dog forward forays.
- Worth noting that Toogood topped our game for time-on-ground (95%) and equal-top with G for score involvements.
- Sensational work from our defenders as a whole: good luck winning one-on-one battles against Gay and MORCS. The latter is elite elite at applying physical contact to prevent her opponent moving into free space. Nuts that she only got topped-up onto our list after a bunch of injuries.
- And yes, another good game by vanLoon (top rebound fifties).
- I have no idea where Brooke Brown was playing today. I think she just got to do anything she wanted given the Dogs were focused on flooding back.
- I guess The Princess did alright, too.
5 Likes
by Sarah Black
ESSENDON wonât be watching a replay any time soon, but the Bombers did enough to defeat the Western Bulldogs by 23 points and remain well and truly in the finals race.
With both teams coming to the end of their condensed period of football, exhaustion was evident, and the game devolved into a kick-to-kick slog, finishing with a 3.8 (26) to 0.3 (3) scoreline.
Itâs the third time in eight matches the rebuilding Dogs have gone goalless this season.
The first quarter was a dog fight, with intensity high from both sides.
The Bulldogsâ pressure rattled Essendon, who was winning more of the footy but unable to take marks inside 50, let alone convert on the scoreboard.
CoughâŚ
The Dogs were poor heading inside 50, unable to capitalise on their good pressure around the field, while Essendonâs defenders feasted on the mis-directed kicks.
It took a 50m penalty â coming from an off-the-ball tussle in the goal-square â for the first goal of the game to be kicked, Steph Wales capping off her strong first half with a major.
The Bombers controlled the footy in the first half, with in-form duo Georgia Nanscawen and Maddy Prespakis finding plenty of the ball through the middle, while given how much time the ball was spending in Essendonâs half, it was unsurprising Dogs defender Elisabeth Georgostathis was sitting up high in the disposal tally.
The game was remarkably still in the balance at three-quarter time, with the margin at 10 points, although it was hard to see where the Dogs were going to get their goals from to overhaul the Bombers.
Essendon quickly put paid to any ideas of a surprise comeback with two goals in the final term.
Dogs skipper De Berry left the field in the final minutes of the game, favouring one leg, with coach Tam Hyett confirming post-match the skipper was suffering from cramp.
Fatigue v tactics
Itâs safe to say few â if any â will be watching the tapes of this game back, given the relative lacklustre performance from both teams. The Bombers were playing their fourth game in 15 days, the Dogs their third in the same period. Both teams were more than happy to throw extra numbers behind the ball, but it becomes a chicken-or-the-egg question â did exhaustion dictate tactics, or did the choice of tactics come first?
Keaneyâs class shines above
In an error-riddled game, it took until the final quarter for a clear highlight to emerge. Experienced winger Bess Keaney took a strong mark back with the flight, and pinned up against the boundary, opted for a drop punt kick, a rarity from that position in the era of the snap. She caressed the kick through perfectly, giving the Bombers a 21-point lead and the four points in the bag.
Up next
The Dogs have a decent chance to record their third win, up against Carlton at Ikon Park on Thursday night. Essendon has a much sterner task, hosting North Melbourne at Windy Hill on Sunday.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.3 (3)
ESSENDON 0.3 1.4 1.6 3.8 (26)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Essendon: Wales, Walker, Keaney
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Berry, Pritchard, Georgostathis
Essendon: Nanscawen, Prespakis, Keaney, Clarke
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Berry (cramp)
Essendon: Nil
Crowd: 4,011 at Mission Whitten Oval
3 Likes
First time weâve won four games in a row (in 15 days!)
9 Likes
Quite a tragic start to the campaign starting 1-3. Now have won 4 straight. Iâm liking what this team is building. And excited to see what happens in the remaining weeks
3 Likes
Keaney took a while to kick her first goal with us (disregarding the pre-season one against the Hawks)⌠but it was pretty good one, from that pocket with that wind!
2 Likes
4,000 is a pretty darn good turnout! Great ground to watch football.
5 Likes
