It’s been a tough 2025 for Essendon fans. With their last win coming from Richmond in Round 11, they’ve lost the last seven games by an average margin of over six goals, with the biggest loss coming at the hands of the Cats in Round 14 to the tune of 95 points.
With that in mind, coming up against a Bulldogs side that needs both the win and percentage to try and squeeze into the top eight by the time finals come around. It’d be a pretty optimistic Bombers fan walking into Marvel expecting victory. Still, they would have at least hoped to see a bit of something that would give them reason to cheer and think optimistically about the future.
Instead, they saw a straight-up murder.
The Dogs hunted the injury-ravaged and inexperienced Bombers without mercy or pause in a display of ruthlessness that had the few supporters in black and red pretty quiet for the whole day. The Bulldogs had winners on every line and favourable match-ups all over the ground while Essendon fielded ten players with less than 30 games experience. They disassembled Essendon’s game and put them to the sword.
But still, there were some positives. It wasn’t the biggest loss of the round for one.
The Last 5
Recent history favoured the Bulldogs, with an average points advantage to the Dogs of just under 37 points.
- Round 10, 2025: Bulldogs by 91.
- Round 5, 2024: Essendon by 29.
- Round 19, 2023: Bulldogs by 41.
- Round 7, 2022 Bulldogs by 32.
- Elimination Final 1, 2021: Bulldogs by 49.
Ins and Outs
Essendon:
- In: Nate Caddy, Saad El‑Hawli, Todd Goldstein
- Out: Archie May (omitted), Vigo Visentini (omitted), Xavier Duursma (injured)
Nate Caddy is also back after being “managed” last week, which we all know is coach-speak for “his leg felt a bit funny.”
Saad El-Hawli makes his return for the first time since Round 10, after spending the last couple of months working his way into some great form in the VFL.
In the ruck, Todd Goldstein replaces Vigo Visentini, while Archie May also makes way and Duursma is put on ice due to soreness.
Western Bulldogs:
- In: Jedd Busslinger, Oskar Baker (with James O’Donnell cleared to play post‑ankle injury)
- Out: Liam Jones, Sam Davidson
Jedd Busslinger was added to the back line, while James O’Donnell was cleared to play post-ankle scare.
Sam Davidson and Liam Jones were the omissions, but the Dogs were likely less looking for a win at all costs, and more trying to blood some younger players against a wounded opponent as the season gets towards the pointy end. The match also marked Tim English’s 150th.
The Opening
The opening bounce saw Goldstein and English contest the ball, which went to ground. Libba scooped it up, handed it to Bontempelli to deliver a low stab to Naughton at full forward. Naughton couldn’t mark it, but was awarded a free when Ridley wrapped an arm around the torso. An easy kick from 15 metres out gave the dogs the first score of the match just 45 seconds into it.
And that’s pretty much the theme for the whole night. Bulldogs winning the contested ball at ground level, finding Bontempelli or Richards in space, quick move forward to a defensive structure struggling to contain the Dogs forwards due to quick movement, and a mark or free giving them a shot on goal.
Ridley and Laverde tried to work their opponents, but Darcy and Naughton just had too much space to lead into, with the ball coming in too quickly for the likes of Redman, McGrath or Roberts to zone off an intercept. Even when they managed to force a contest, they struggled to get the ball out of defence due to the forward pressure of the Dogs. Blast kicking was intercepted, and evasive running countered with smart tackling. Houli tried to take the game on and bust through the pack, but Naughton stuck a tackle to force the HTB free, giving him his second.
By the time Angus Clarke managed a behind to open the account for the Dons with a long-running shot from 50, things looked troubling. From that kickout, the Dogs walked the ball through the middle through Bontempelli and Freijah, whose kick found Darcy one-on-one with Laverde. Darcy was just too tall and too well-positioned for Laverde to deal with on his own, giving him a solid contested mark that he converted. Bontempelli had a similar benefit from a quick forward 50 entry that had him taking a one-hander that might have been a free anyway, which he converted, and Richards added a clever 1-2 play with Naughton to kick a goal of his own, putting the margin at 5.2 to 0.1. McMahon got the first for the Bombers through just sheer effort, but Darcy responded quickly with his second with a strong pack mark that he converted. With just seconds left in the quarter, Kakao found McMahon on the lead, who converted as the siren sounded.
The Dogs entered the first break with a 27-point lead and looked solidly in control of the midfield contest, as well as simply giving more of a crap about the game itself.
The Situation Worsens
The second quarter told much the same story, though the already under-manned defence looked even shakier as Jordan Ridley was subbed out with a low-grade strain to his left hamstring. Mason Redman was having an impact with his intercepts, but losing a key defender meant the magnets had to be shuffled around with all the urgency (and effectiveness) of shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Essendon did close up and keep the Dogs to just four goals for the quarter, but it came at a cost of sacrificing their forward run to avoid getting caught on the overlap, meaning that players like Houli and Kakao weren’t able to do their usual speedy handball receives as they motored past, hampering their ability to score as the Dons only put on three points for the second quarter.
The third quarter was where most of the damage was done, with the dogs piling on 7.2 as Essendon tried to move the ball forward with a bit more urgency, which exposed them as they were intercepted and counter-punched with alarming regularity.
Naughton and Darcy had a field day in the third as they field their boots. Byt the time the teams went in to the huddle for the last break, Naughton had six, Darcey had five, and the Bombers supporters had clinical depression.
By the time the ball was bounced for the final quarter it was just a matter of wether the margin would hit triple figures. Peter Wright’s two quick early goals gave the remaining Dons fans a reason to… well maybe not cheer, but at least feel a bit better about their decision not to catch the early train home.
From there on, the Dogs just kind of leaned n them as they took the foot off the gas a little, and their champion players spent more time being time managed on the bench.
Ruck Battle
I’ll cop to being an unashamed fan of Toddy Goldstein. He’s had a long career where the took on mobile ruckmen like Gawn and Grundy, as well as the monsters like Sandilands and Mumford, or legends like Cox and Naitanui. In all those match ups, over the course of his career he was always competitive at the very least, and had his fair share of wins.
But, most of that was done by a much younger man. Goldy has lost a step in pace and a bit of his leap, but he’s still one of the sharpest big men around.
Tim English is a ruck on the cusp of being one of the elite, but never quite seems to get there. Gawn, Grundy, Xerri and TDK get a lot of headlines, and while English has his supporters and fans, he’s probably a bit underrated when compared to the others. His centre clearance work and intercepts are among the best in the league, and his ability to impact the play when going forward is among the best rucks of the comp.
The problem is, his hitout technique around the ground is a bit… average, and this is where Goldstein’s cleverness helped.
Goldy attended 14 fewer contests, but won more hitouts and hitouts to advantage. English though was far more effective when the ball hit the deck, amassing six clearances and 22 touches along with 251 metres gained, dwarfing Goldy’s impact away from the contest.
So again we’re debating whether the value of a ruck is in the tap or as a midfielder? I want to make a case for Goldstein to take the win here, his body positioning at the ball ups and the angles he works at the bounce are the sort of things that any young lad walking around above 6’9 should be studying. But… only five effective disposals to English’s 16, one mark to English’s six, and giving away an extra free kick over English… it’s hard to justify giving Todd the chocolates based on two more hitouts, even if I kind of want to.
But nah, English takes it this week in a solid performance that shows how a big man and his mids can work hand-in-glove, even if the big man doesn’t take a starring role.
The Stats That Sting
- Final margin: 93 points. The only solace is that it’s not even the worst of the round.
- Goal feast: Naughton kicked 7, Darcy snagged 6, and Rhylee West got 3 — that’s 16 between them. Ben Jacobs is the Assistant Coach in charge of defence, and he’ll have a hell of a lot of work to do as the season winds down. It can’t all be laid at his feet though, as the injuries have been mounting rapidly. Putting together a defensive structure with this squad would be like trying to play chess while missing half the Queen, Rooks and Knights, and replacing them with a novelty salt shaker and the old boot from a Monopoly set.
- Disposals: Bontempelli had 35 and 2 goals, barely raising a sweat. He rarely seemed under pressure, even when he had players climbing all over him. It looked like and end-of-season AusKick event where a bunch of kids were playing against their Dads, and Dad wanted to live out his footy dreams by racking up the touches at will.
- Efficiency Inside 50: Essendon didn’t get forward as much as they’d have liked, but when they did they were wasteful and exposed themselves to a counter-attack. 43.5% efficiency in their attacking zone was way down on the 62.5% that the Dogs had, and even the Bulldogs would like to be a little cleaner than that.
- 86 points from turnovers:. 13 goals for the Dogs came from plays that began in their defensive half, including some end-to-end plays that were little more than kick long, handball, kick long, goal. The phone in the coaches’ box will be feeling the grip strength of Brad Scott for a while.
- Uncontested Posessions: 270 to 211 is a big margin, showing just how often the Bulldogs had the ball in space. The problem with a young and hopeful team is that sometimes they want to do too much. They all come in to help each other rather than stay in a wider structure and trusting their teammates to win the ball and get it to them away from the contest. It’s hard to counter because for the most part, they’re not winning those contested balls against the likes of Libba, Bont and Richards.
- Marks: 126 – 71: Much like the stat above, this just shows how much time and space the Bulldogs had, but the 17-7 advantage in contested marks also shows that the stronger bodies mattered too.
- Nine Clearances to Sam Durham. Ending on a bright note, Durham’s work at the centre bounce was the best in the match. I don’t think it’ll nab him the one Brownlow vote that the ups sometimes give the losing team, but it’ll help him keep his head up come the Monday review.
Next Up
Essendon head to Sydney to take on the Swans. While it’s mathematically possible for Sydney to make the eight, it’d involve the Bulldogs and Gold Coast losing every game from here on by a lot, and Sydney winning all the games with an average margin in the triple digits.
Still, the Swans have a reason to play as they look to try tactics and strategies for next year. They’ll view this as barely more than a match sim as they look to 2026. Will that cost them as Essendon look to regain some pride? Probably not.
Swans by 37.
Bullldogs host 6th place GWS at Marvel in what should be a very interesting match. The Dogs have won the last three match ups on the trot, and need a win to keep their finals hopes alive, though the Giants are in fantastic form, winning their last six.
Both teams match up well, with great forward structure, playmaking mids and an active defence that isn’t afraid to push up.
The smart money will be on GWS, but I think we’re entering into the season where the finals-locked teams are looking to September, while the Bulldogs will go in much hungrier and willing to take bigger risks with their play style and body contact.
Bulldogs by 12.
