AFL season 2016: Western Bulldogs turn tables on hapless North Melbourne Kangaroos

WESTERN BULLDOGS 1.4      4.5      7.7      9.7     (61)
NORTH MELBOURNE  2.2      2.4      4.5      7.5     (47)
GOALS - Western Bulldogs: Daniel,  Johannissen,  Roughead,  Stringer,  Hunter,  Bontempelli, Hrovat,  Dickson, Cordy. North Melbourne:  Brown, Harvey,  Wells, Ziebell,  Thomas,  Daw, Goldstein.
BEST - Western Bulldogs: M Boyd, Johannisen, Dahlhaus, Webb, Bontempelli, Hamling. North Melbourne: Macmillan, Wells, Dal Santo, Cunnington, Ziebell.
UMPIRES Ryan, Mollison, Nicholls.
CROWD 30,740 at Etihad Stadium.

When North Melbourne beat the Western Bulldogs in a top-of-the-table clash back in round six, it was the Roos who looked the harder outfit, applying a defensive squeeze so tight the Dogs managed just six goals for the entire game. 

The Roos won a dour struggle with just nine goals of their own, their tally until Saturday night still their lowest score of the season. But their opponent has shown repeatedly it learns its lessons quickly. And in the return bout, the Dogs proved it again. 

In an almost mirror image of that first clash, the Bulldogs won with exactly the same score North had posted first time around, allowing the Roos just two more points than they themselves had kicked in defeat in round six. 

Again, it was tough to get a kick, tougher still to get one in space, and tough indeed to be a forward trying to eke out some room and scoring opportunities. 

But what limited chances there were, the Bulldogs all night made better use of. They had more run, and more runners likely to slip forward and score. Not surprisingly, that meant they also had more scoring options. And in a game in which no player managed more than a single goal, that was crucial. 

The Bulldogs had hit the front by early in the second term. And while the gap was never large enough to call game, set and match till shortly before the finish, North didn't much look like bridging it, either. 

The Roos had started well enough, their first goal on the board in under 90 seconds, Nick Dal Santo honouring Ben Brown's lead with a nice little chip pass into the forward pocket. 

The Bulldogs would attack next, but in doing so establish a pattern which would frustrate them for much of the quarter. 

First, Tom Boyd dropped a mark which had his name written on it at the top of the goal square. Then followed a number of missed opportunities. Lachie Hunter missed a gettable shot at goal. Jordan Roughead hit the post from only 15 metres out, and Josh Dunkley couldn't make the most of a free kick close to goal. In the midst of all that, the Roos had managed to nail another shot, Harvey this time, from a tight angle. 

It was only with less than 30 seconds left in the opening term that the Dogs broke their duck, Tory Dickson converting a beautiful pass from an until that moment subdued Marcus Bontempelli. 

But by the end of the term, it was they who had the better of play, if not the scoreboard. And that, too, was put right early in the second quarter, when Caleb Daniel hauled in a one-handed mark and put it through from about 45 metres. 

From there, the Bulldogs began to do their weight of possession justice.  North Melbourne were getting "antsy" now, and in a scrappy game you could almost feel the hackles rising, eventually spilling over into several push-and-shove affairs, the biggest of which spilled over after the half-time siren signalled a 13-point lead to the Doggies. 

The Roos went to the break having had nearly 50 more disposals, but they were uncontested touches, and more of a reflection of their desperation to find viable attacking options, hence the need to chip the ball around. It was the Bulldogs' attacks that seemed more likely to bear fruit. 

Particularly once it emerged Brown was done for the evening for the Roos, having hurt his knee early in the second term, his side looking a far tamer proposition in attack from that moment. North did rally early in the third term with two of the first three goals. But in matches this tightmere moments can be pivotal to a result, and now came one. 

Jed Anderson, having worked hard to create a scoring chance for the Roos, blew it with a miss from straight in front. The ball swept to the other end, where a desperate lunge from Liam Picken forced Michael Firrito to handball straight into the arms of a grateful Hunter.  Zaine Cordy extended the gap. And by the time Roughead booted the first goal of the last term, not only was the margin now 26 points, North had barely had an attack, let alone a score, for a considerable time. 

But the Bulldogs hadn't forgotten what it felt like to have the creative juices squeezed out of you by an opponent that just wouldn't let you breathe. 

This time, it was their turn to do the squeezing. 

VOTES
WESTERN BULLDOGS v NORTH MELBOURNE
(Rohan Connolly)

Matthew Boyd (WB) ........8
Jason Johannisen (WB)...8
Luke Dahlhaus (WB)........7
Jamie Macmillan (NM).....7
Daniel Wells (NM)...........7