WEST COAST 4.6 6.9 11.13 12.15 (87)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.2 4.5 7.9 11.14 (80)
Goals: West Coast: J Darling 3 M Karpany 3 J Cripps 2 D Petrie D Sheed J McGovern N Vardy. Western Bulldogs: J Redpath 2 L Hunter 2 M Wallis 2 B Dale J Roughead J Stringer T Dickson T McLean
Best: Western Bulldogs:Â Hunter, Redpath, Dale, Picken, Macrae, Daniel. West Coast: Gaff, Darling, McGovern, Sheed, Petrie, Vardy
Umpires: Brett Rosebury, Andrew Mitchell, Andrew Stephens
Official Crowd: 29,671 at Etihad Stadium
In this season of bizarre upsets and epic finishes, this match threatened to produce the most bizarre and epic result of all.
The Western Bulldogs, who played without verve or conviction as they scrapped their way to just seven goals in the first three quarters, somehow managed to bang on four unanswered goals at the start of the final term to close to within one point of what had been a dominant West Coast.
It was only two heroic acts from Eagles ruckman Nathan Vardy that halted the charge and denied the Dogs what would have been the most remarkable of victories.
At the 28-minute mark of the final quarter Vardy took a ball out of a goalsquare ruck contest and snapped the sealer. Moments later, with the Dogs desperately trying to claw their way back into contention, Vardy grabbed a powerful pack mark 20 metres out from the Dogs' goal.
In truth, the Dogs were lucky to even be in the contest at the final change, and would not have been in reaching distance if the Eagles had converted their set-shot opportunities.
If the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then the Western Bulldogs played insane football for the first three quarters of their must-win encounter at Etihad Stadium.
At the very least they played dumb footy. Time and again the Dogs bombed the Sherrin into their undersized and crowded forward 50, as if miraculously expecting the ghosts of EJ Whitten, Chris Grant and Gary Dempsey to suddenly materialise and pluck a contested mark. Instead they were kicking to workmanlike key forward Jack Redpath, the admirably competitive Liam Picken (184cm) and a revolving cast of small and mid-sized forwards who struggled to have an impact.
It allowed the likes of Jeremy McGovern, Tom Barass and Elliot Yeo to take countless intercept marks and offload to Eagles runners who swept the ball the length of the field.
If any team was going to back its contested marking up forward, it would have been the Eagles, who had Jack Darling, Drew Petrie and sometimes McGovern as targets. And yet they kicked to space and advantage, setting up early goals to Malcolm Karpany (twice on the lead), Darling (running back hard into an open 50) and Petrie, who pushed forward to mark over two smalls.
Of course, there were other reasons for the Eagles recording a long-awaited win in Melbourne.
West Coast dominated the clearances, and the Eagles were prepared to run in waves, which allowed them to dominate the uncontested possession numbers.
The most damaging of the outside Eagles was Andrew Gaff, who continued his penchant for racking up big numbers against the Dogs with a 42-possession game.
The Dogs seemed to lack the manic pressure and slick handball that was the trademark of their premiership run last year. They had few winners, with Lachie Hunter getting plenty of the footy and chipping in with two goals, while Jack Redpath and Liam Picken toiled manfully in the forward half. But the Dogs did have several notable passengers.
West Coast opted to follow the recent trend of trying to unsettle dashing Bulldogs defender Jason Johannisen with some pre-match buffeting and bluster, and it worked.
Direct opponent Mark Hutchings, along with Jamie Cripps and Dom Sheed, niggled and jostled him before the opening bounce, and the pummelling continued throughout the opening term.
Twice it cost the Eagles free kicks, including an off-the-ball infringement at a centre bounce that set up a Bulldogs clearance and a Redpath goal.
Up in the radio commentary box, exasperated former great Wayne Carey declared that the battered Dog needed to work his way through the unwanted attention. "He's got to give something back. Don't just cop it."
Johannisen's first disposal came up against the back pocket boundary towards the end of the first quarter when Hutchings tackled him high.
The Norm Smith medallist finished the day with just 12 possessions, and for the fourth consecutive match his influence was neutralised. He has averaged just under 14 disposals per match over the past month.
The mercurial Jake Stringer was another who struggled to fire a shot. He was the recipient of some Bronx cheers midway through third quarter when he won a kick on the back flank, and by three-quarter time had just three touches, In desperation Dogs coach Luke Beveridge moved Stringer into the centre square, but essentially his only contribution for the afternoon was to chop off a Barass kick-in with five minutes left in the game, and snap to put the Dogs within one point.
The other noteworthy talking point was the 25-19 free-kick count in West Coast's favour.
The recent publicity about the Bulldogs' statistical free-kick advantage seemed to work against them. The Eagles won some crucial decisions and during a five-minute period in the second quarter Dogs fans were ropable when what looked to be four clear infringements were ignored. Let's just be generous and say the men in lime may have been blinded by the glare from the direct sunlight created by Etihad Stadium's open roof.
Â
VOTES
Andrew Gaff (WC) 8
Jack Darling (WC) 8
Lachie Hunter (WB) 8
Jeremy McGovern (WC) 7
Jack Redpath (WB) 7