Round Eight – Western Bulldogs v Port Adelaide
The Prophet’s Perceptions
As the fan bases of the Dogs and the Power descended on a half-built, limited available seating, rural arena in Ballarat, the sun was shining, ready for a game of footy. With the result of the Federal Election on the line (Port have played on election day twice: when they won, the Libs won, and when the Pear lost, Labor won – make of that what you will), all eyes would be on the midfield battle. With stars everywhere, it would be who would make the most of their opportunities and who would control the footy. How did it play out? Well, here are my perceptions.
Playing the Conditions
With the wind causing havoc to the right of your TV, both sides were going to be stretched skill-wise and strategically. Port had the wind advantage in the first term, and while they dominated clearance and field position in the first quarter, they couldn’t capitalise on that.
The Dogs slowly built in the game. Port are known for their fast starts – this making six of eight times they’ve led at quarter time in 2025, while the Dogs have just won two first quarters. In the opening term, the Dogs had limited looks and took their chances. Around the contest, Zak Butters had four clearances himself, and Jason Horne-Francis had three, to kickstart the Power charge. Symptomatic of the Dogs slow start, skipper Marcus Bontempelli had just the two touches to quarter time.
It was an arm wrestle, but both clubs would have been happy for different reasons – Port with their clearance dominance, and just needing to clean up their disposal, the Dogs with being close on the scoreboard from limited looks. Needless to say, this would have been the last time that the Power would have been happy.
The Dogs blew the game open in the second term, kicking six goals to one to lead at half time. The Dogs were very successful in adapting their ball movement based on the conditions – handballs and short kicks when into the wind, and then going quickly and kicking long going forward and defending territory well. It wasn’t just their disposal and strategy, but their pressure and intensity gave the Power no space at all. Port were going at the meagre 21% efficiency going into their forward 50 at half-time.
After half-time, it was much of the same. Surprisingly, the Power hadn’t learned anything from how the Dogs maximised kicking with the wind, reverting to a handball game and getting themselves into a lot of trouble.
Overall, the Dogs capitalised when they had the wind, and were just better across the ground all day. They took their chances, hunted in packs, stuck their marks, and looked like they were actually interested. Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis were about the only Power players who could walk off the field reasonably happy with their performance.
Midfield Depth
Throughout 2025 the Dogs have had injuries. And it wasn’t until today that they had their full complement of first-string midfielders available. What this allowed was flexibility across the park. Ed Richards spent time behind the ball – and still 30 disposals and 2.1 on the scoreboard – and The Bont spent time forward. This allowed Libba, the returning Adam Trealor, Matt Kennedy, and the emerging Joel Freijah to run through the middle and do their thing.
It was a comprehensive win in the midfield for the Dogs – 49 clearances to 35, notably winning centre clearances 17 to 8. It was an even spread for the Dogs, who, besides Matt Kennedy (11) had no player with more than 5 clearances. They shared the load. Unfortunately for the Power, their reliance was on too few, with Horne-Francis (7), Butters (6), and Willem Drew (5) having more than half of the Power’s clearances between them. This is all despite the huge discrepancy in hit outs, in which Jordon Sweet was dominant, yet it had a limited impact and return from the mids.
If you’re going to beat the Dogs, you need to curtail their midfield depth. Port have a number of players that can go through their midfield, they just weren’t switched on today.
I mentioned the ruck battle and Sweet’s dominance in the hit-outs. But today’s game could definitely be used as the example as to why hit outs are a nothing stat. We have been taught to believe that they mean something (hit-outs). But, while Sweet had 46 hit-outs to Tim English’s 30, English was the stand out ruckman and player in this game. He had 27 disposals (11 contested), 4 clearances, 4 inside 50’s, and a game high 17 score involvements (including an also game-high 3 goal assists). English was a brute around the game. He ran hard and was probably the biggest forward 50 threat at either end. His 3 goals attests to that.
Other Things
I’ve mentioned Tim English above. He was the clear best player on the ground. One of the unique stats that emphasises his influence today, was the 9 score involvements he had in the third quarter alone.
I know how much viewers and fans love a good score review, and we saw one within the opening 30 seconds of the game. Interestingly, they called for a review when two field umpires called touched … but it was good that they did call the review, for it wasn’t touched, and Willie Rioli was rightly awarded a goal. I do wonder if the call of touch did impact the defense of Rory Lobb who sort of just let it bounce through.
In a 90-point win, the umpires cannot be blamed. I’m not blaming them, I’m a neutral, and I tipped the Dogs. However, the way that the umpires adjudicated holding the ball was very interesting today. In the first half, they were red hot on it. They called it quickly, and moved the game on – Connor Rozee even got penalised for kicking the ball in a tackle. However, as the game went on, there was more time given to players to dispose of the ball. I have no idea if there was a directive at half-time, but as a viewer, it’s frustrating when one rule is called differently in one half than the other.
Connor Rozee has reinvented himself as a half-back, and it’s been great for his side. Today, they couldn’t capitalise on his defensive fifty rebounds. Okay, many were dump kicks into space given the way the Dogs pressed, but his forwards didn’t do him or other defenders any favours. The Power need to find him some help off half-back and some added support in their midfield so that he, as their biggest weapon in transition, isn’t called upon to go into the middle.
The Dogs dominance in the contest was most notably seen inside their forward 50. They had 10 forward 50 clearances, resulting in 8 goals straight. From 8 of the same clearances, the Power kicked 2.2. This is a combination of great efficiency and positioning from the Dogs, and the ineptness of the Power’s defence today, who all had their colours significantly lowered.
One other positive for the Power was the combined competitiveness of Mitch Georgiades and Ollie Lord. While they had limited opportunities and kicked one goal between them, they both competed hard and brought the ball to ground more often than not, if they didn’t mark it. Their side couldn’t capitalise, but these two can at least say they gave it a crack.
What Did We Learn?
Dogs – I’ll make a statement right now that others will scoff at. But right now, on form, on team balance, and scoring ability, the Dogs should be Premiership favourites. They had winners – and dominant winners – on every line, and they were incredibly efficient in challenging conditions. If this Dogs side can continue to build and develop their synergy with the blend of experience and youth, good luck to anyone else coming after them.
Power – this is the version of the Power that the footy public banter about. The effort wasn’t there, the execution wasn’t there, and it looked like this was the last place they wanted to be. In order to stay in striking distance of the top eight, the Power need to actually abide by their song and not be torn apart; this was their second biggest loss to the Dogs, ever, and their equal lowest ever score against the Dogs. That sums it all up. You cannot win finals or make finals when your best and worst has a chasm the size of the Grand Canyon. So, the Power need to work out what they stand for, whether they realistically can make finals (that looks doubtful right now) and whether they need to be playing kids to figure out who’s good enough at the level.
Well, the Dogs were exceptional. I could have written about pretty much everyone who played today, as they comprehensively belted the Power by 90 points. They have a week’s rest before a tricky road trip to Darwin to face the Suns next Saturday Night. While the Power, also playing next Saturday Night, need to respond in the Showdown or stare down the prospect of their season being over before the halfway mark.
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