Western Bulldogs vs Essendon: What caught my eye
Essendon gave us something to think about (and more importantly, gave me something to write about) with a gallant second half, but ultimately it was the Western Bulldogs coming away with a comfortable victory in a clash between the two at an open-roofed Marvel Stadium on Sunday night.
Tipping the margin for this one was the flavour of the week for footy fans, with most across the country anticipating the unbeaten Dogs to dish out a three-figure belting to a Bombers side that has been beyond hapless to start the season.
It certainly looked headed that way at half time with the Dogs 54 points up, having kicked ten goals to Essendon’s one, but to their credit and to our sheer shock, the Bombers found something in the second half.
In fact, they booted eight goals to the Dogs’ four to win the second half by 20 points, putting together the best footy we’ve seen them play in almost a year.
I won’t lie, I was dreading reviewing this game. I’m not sure what demon from the depths of hell possessed me to put my name down for it, and at half time I had already begun writing what sounded like Brad Scott’s obituary.
But here I am, after a fair amount of backspacing, re-writing what was largely a finished product because this game took an unexpected turn.
So without further delay, let’s dive into some of the things that caught my eye in a weird and whacky contest.
Essendon finally give themselves a building block
We simply have to start here.
It wasn’t a win, and their losing streak has now stretched to 17 straight defeats, but Sunday’s game delivered Bombers fans something they seriously needed: Nourishment.
For the first time in a long time, Essendon were competitive, and that means something to a club that was as far down the doldrums as this one.
The Bombers have been under a fire so hot it’s amazing head coach Brad Scott doesn’t sport a permanent sunburn, but for this week at least, they’ve earned themselves some reprieve.
Staring down the barrel of another relentless beating, Essendon mustered what remaining pride they have and outscored the Dogs by 20 in the second half.
Seriously, it was like when Frodo gets that random burst of energy and all of a sudden he’s running across the rocks of Mount Doom, while Sam (resembling Essendon fans), is just staring at him thinking “where the hell has this been?”
But more importantly than kicking their own collection of goals, the Bombers showed us they can defend.
Pressure efforts led by Zach Merrett, Sam Durham, and Archer Day-Wicks put second thoughts into the Bulldogs’ minds, and backs Zach Reid and Jaxon Prior positioned themselves to defend aerial contests much better as the game went on.
These efforts kept the Bulldogs goalless in the third term, and in fact goalless for a 40-minute stretch spanning from the back end of the second quarter to the early stages of the fourth.
This is what will please Brad Scott when he reviews the game with his players this week, and it’s a vital building block that Essendon desperately needed.
The players have now shown they’re capable of defending one of the better offensive sides in the game. They won’t get it right like that every week, but just giving themselves the belief that it’s possible is a move in the right direction.
Letting Bontempelli run free is malpractice
Now, that’s enough praise for the Bombers, I don’t want to give their fans a heart attack.
Turning our attention to where it went wrong in the first half, I’m looking squarely at the Bombers’ gameplan (or lack thereof) when it came to stopping Marcus Bontempelli.
Make no mistake, while Essendon gave a gallant effort in the back half of the game, this one was already put to bed at half time and it was largely due to the Bont being able to go where he pleased totally unchecked.
The seven-time All-Australian racked up 22 disposals and a goal in the first half, doing enough damage to put the game beyond Essendon’s reach.
Now this is nothing new for Bontempelli, and we’ve grown accustomed to watching these types of performances, but I couldn’t fathom Brad Scott’s approach.
Fair enough, most in the business will agree a hard tag on the Bont is a fool’s errand. You’re always going to struggle to curtail his influence on a game if you go head-to-head with him, but boy, doing the complete opposite and giving him a paddock of space to operate just cannot be allowed to happen.
At the very least, a young bloke like Zak Johnson or Day-Wicks would learn more in a night against Bontempelli than they could in a year being sitting ducks for the Bombers, even if he destroys them.
Plenty of now superstar mids have spent stints of their early careers as taggers, taking lessons from some of the best in the game. I feel like this might have been a better option than simply giving them all free tickets to Marcus-mania as he decimated them in the opening stanzas.
Fringe players can feast on Essendon
The likes of the aforementioned Bontempelli have little to prove in match-ups like tonight’s, but for fringe players like Arthur Jones, games like this are a chance to earn yourself an extra month in the ones.
Jones made the most of his chances on a day where his side dominated the inside 50 count, snaring three goals from 10 possessions in what was probably his best game for the club.
Others like James Dolan (16 disposals and a goal), and Ryley Sanders (34 disposals, five clearances) also made hay while the sun shone.
It’s the sort of match-up where superstars can coast around the park doing their thing, but younger and more unproven players smell blood in the water for an easier kill.
Let’s see how they stack up against the Hawks next week.
Jacob Farrow can play
The Bombers have certainly found a player in Jacob Farrow.
Taken with pick ten in last year’s National Draft, the smooth-moving half back impressed in his debut game last week, before all but bursting onto the scene in this one.
Farrow collected 21 disposals, took 12 marks, and most importantly moved the ball with not only poise, but intelligence as he used his skillful boot to give his teammates an advantage.
Essendon are crying out for an offense-minded half back that can launch counter attacks from their defensive 50m arch, and it appears they found one.
If they can get Dyson Sharp back to good health, and introduce fellow first-round pick Sullivan Robey into the mix, they might actually have a few ingredients to begin cooking with.
Joel Freijah almost had a monster game
He’s been coined “baby Bont” for his mixture of size and skill in the midfield, and the more you watch Joel Freijah, the harder it is to deny him the title.
With Tom Liberatore off injured and Ed Richards a late out, Freijah was destined to benefit from a more prominent role, and while he certainly impressed, he also left a lot on the table.
The 20-year-old finished the night with 26 disposals, six tackles, and three clearances, but a series of dropped marks in places that would have resulted in shots on goal turned a potential great night into a simply good one.
It’s nothing that will phase a player who is fast becoming a serious weapon at the highest level, but you certainly want to grab opportunities when they present themselves, especially while your gun teammates are on the sidelines.
Some semblance of a forward line
Essendon’s front half has been as impotent as Grandpa Simpson without his special tonic this year, but tonight they took a step forward with the return of Tom Edwards.
That sounds like a pretty wild thing to say about a guy who was playing in just his third game of AFL football coming off a long term injury, but it’s amazing what a key forward who genuinely competes can do for you.
The presence of Edwards and his ability to give his smalls an opportunity at ground level helped give Essendon a pulse, and it also brought out the best performance we’ve seen from Archer May this year.
Throw in Peter Wright, and all of a sudden you’ve got some targets up there.
Now, they will inevitably face tougher tests than Rory Lobb and James O’Donnell, but Bombers fans can go to bed tonight feeling better about their chances to kick goals than they did yesterday.
Merrett gets moving
It’s been a dour start to the season for maligned Essendon superstar Zach Merrett, but we saw a little more of the midfield maestro we’ve come to know in tonight’s clash.
Specifically in the fourth quarter, where he collected nine disposals and laid five tackles, two of which yielded holding the ball free kicks.
He finished the night with 30 disposals, 17 of which came in the second half, and got back to being the more damaging player we know he can be.
Can’t say the same for Darcy Parish, though…
In a stark contrast to his former captain, Darcy Parish didn’t record a single statistic in the final quarter.
That’s right. Zero. Bupkis. Nada.
The once prolific ball-winner has been well off the boil this season, consistently spending the lowest amount of time on ground for Essendon players and struggling to get into the game once he does grace the field.
Tonight he recorded 66% time on ground, ahead of only Saad El-Hawli who was on the field 65% of the time.
Not sure what’s happening with Parish, and I know he’s suffered more than his share of injuries, but he needs to start impacting games or he’ll find himself in the twos fairly quickly.
And finally, some quick hitters to finish us off
- Have to give flowers to Archie Roberts. Tallied 37 disposals and 12 marks in a four-quarter effort. Still needs to work on his disposal, but I’ll bet Brad Scott wishes guys like Archie Perkins and Kyle Langford had half of the young gun’s tenacity and work rate.
- Big watch on the Tim English knee injury over the next couple days. Any time missed by the big man will hurt the Dogs significantly, with their next four games coming against Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney, and Fremantle. He did try to come back on, so let’s hope he’s alright.
- Matt Kennedy had 36 disposals and 11 clearances. It’s almost criminal that I haven’t mentioned him until now.
- The Dogs’ defence failed a test in the second half tonight. If Essendon can put eight goals on you in a half of footy, what can the Fremantle’s and Sydney’s of the world do?
Alright, that’s a wrap for me. Happy Easter, folks!
