WESTERN BULLDOGS
4.4 7.6 11.9 14.15 (99)
WEST COAST
2.3 3.6 5.9 7.10 (52)
GOALS Western Bulldogs: Dunkley 2, Picken 2, Dickson 2, Daniel, Smith, Roughead, Stringer, Dahlhaus, Hunter, Bontempelli, Liberatore.
West Coast: Darling 2, Kennedy 2, Hill, Brown, LeCras.
BEST Western Bulldogs: Daniel, Dahlhaus, Hunter, Boyd, Picken, Hamling.
West Coast: Hutchings, Shuey, Priddis, Hurn, Masten, Gaff.
INJURIES Western Bulldogs: Wood (ankle), Jong (shoulder/collarbone). West Coast: Lycett (knee).
UMPIRES Schmitt, Rosebury, Farmer.
CROWD 42,079 at Domain Stadium.
- Bulldogs v Eagles live: as it happened
- Dogs relieved to have 'finals monkey' off back
- Eagles will look at ruck depth in 2017
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Bulldogs triumph over Eagles
It's still too early to say whether the Dogs are capable of winning the premiership, but after this unpredictable and daring game, the belief is much greater.
The Western Bulldogs played their elimination final against West Coast like a team that had nothing to lose – and it paid off in spades.
Their unpredictable and daring game plan, to run the ball through the middle of Domain Stadium and back their usually reliable skills, paid off. The Dogs won through to the second week of the finals, and earned a clash against the loser of the Hawthorn-Geelong final, with a comprehensive 47-point upset win over the Eagles in Perth.
The controversial week off, between round 23 and this one, was always going to benefit the injury-plagued Dogs. But this was a completely different side to the one that finished the season with a forgettable loss to Fremantle at the same venue. This was more of a hint of the side that won nine of the first 12 games of the season and sat in the top four.
It was the first time the Western Bulldogs have won a final outside of Victoria, having lost their three previous attempts.
It's a bit early to say whether the Dogs are capable of winning a premiership from outside the top four – but after Thursday night the belief will be much greater. And after playing on Thursday night, they will have another extended break before taking on either the Cats or Hawks.
As has been the status quo this season though, the victory came at a cost to the Dogs.
Lin Jong missed the second half after dislocating his shoulder in the second quarter. He'd been important in the midfield before that and will be missed for the remainder of the Dogs' campaign – however long that may be.
He could become the hard-luck story of this finals series.
The margin could have, and should have, been so much more, such was the Dogs' dominance. They had the first three shots of the game; all gettable and missed them all. Four minutes later, the Eagles' two big forwards, Coleman medallist Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, each pounced on Bulldog errors in defence to kick goals and the Eagles led by nine points.
However, they wouldn't see another six-pointer for another 40 minutes, which came with Mitch Brown's first touch of the game. In that time the Bulldogs kicked seven goals to lead by as many as 31points (and by 30 at half-time). And that's with Tom Boyd, who looked a lot better in the ruck than he did in attack, kicking two behinds in the space of two minutes.
Lachie Hunter, Matthew Boyd and Luke Dahlhaus were doing the damage in the midfield and each kicked a goal in the that time. But it was Rising Star runner-up Caleb Daniel that was cutting holes through the Eagles defence. Every time he kicked the ball inside 50, the Dogs finished up with a shot on goal. And that continued into the second half.
That half-time margin came with little impact from Marcus Bontempelli too. He had just six possessions in the first half, being effectively manned up by the Eagles' Mark Hutchings.
The Eagles had injury concerns of their own too, notably with ruckman Scott Lycett. The big man went into the game with a knee injury that he had been managing since early in the season. When he went to ground during the first term he looked sore and was forced to spend more time on the sidelines than West Coast would have liked.
Luke Shuey and Matt Priddis produced the effort for the Eagles, matching the Dogs for contested possessions. While that resulted in shots on goal in the first half, those dried up in the second. And when they did, Joel Hamling was never too far away from Kennedy, who finished with just two goals, including one late in the final quarter. By then the Dogs were celebrating.