WESTERN BULLDOGS 5.4 Â 8.9 Â 15.10 Â 19.13 (127)
ESSENDON 4.5 Â 7.10 Â 11.15 Â 13.19 (97)
Goals: Western Bulldogs: J Johannissen 4 T Dickson 3 L Webb 2 M Bontempelli 2 C Daniel J Roughead L Hunter M Suckling R Murphy T Cloke T Liberatore T McLean. Essendon: J Daniher 6 O Fantasia 2 A McDonald-Tipungwuti C Hooker D Parish D Zaharakis T Colyer.
Best: Western Bulldogs: Roughead, Bontempelli, Johannisen, Biggs, Macrae, Hunter, Dickson. Essendon: Daniher, Hurley, Zaharakis, Heppell, Parish, Hartley.
Umpires: Shaun Ryan, Andrew Mitchell, Brendan Hosking.
Official Crowd: 48,754 at Etihad Stadium.
The AFL was celebrating its multicultural round on the weekend. It turned out it was not only a round to mark the diverse backgrounds of AFL players, but also a round that highlighted the diverse range of conditions in which football can be played. A forceful wind shaped Saturday afternoon's game in Hobart, wet weather affected the twilight game in Adelaide. This Sunday clash presented a terrific advertisement for playing games under a roof.
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The conditions were perfect, and with the fans crammed in, a match that had offered a lot very much delivered. By the end of it, the Western Bulldogs were, at least for a few hours, back in the top eight, and of more concern for the competition, again playing with verve. Essendon, conversely, were again looking in from the outside, rightly ruing missed chances, after losing by 30 points despite having as many scoring shots as the winners.
The Dogs deserved their win though. Again they look hungry, far superior around the stoppages, and more often than not first to the ball.
Though dotted with moments of major disappointment, Essendon had reached greater heights this year than the Bulldogs, who even when winning regularly in the first third of the season had looked relatively pedestrian. So it appeared early in this one, as the Bombers burst out of the blocks, Darcy Parish kicking the first goal of the game inside 30 seconds, one of three majors from Essendon in the first eight minutes.
But having been jumped, the Dogs steadied, and gradually pegged back the lead. Both sides were moving the ball at pace, but it was the reigning premiers clicking a little better. A problem for much of the season, their forward line at last looked damaging.Tory Dickson has had a turbulent season but back in the side, appeared back to his crafty best. Lukas Webb had been a late inclusion, yet he was an inspired one too, causing problems for the Dons' defence, while the shift of Jason Johannisen to half-forward was also looking like a masterstroke, the Norm Smith medallist seemingly reinvigorated.
The Dogs hit the front before quarter-time, and when Travis Cloke - back in the seniors after an absence with mental health issues - finished sublimely on his non-preferred right foot, the Dogs seemed headed for a sizeable half-time lead. That didn't eventuate though, due in large part to Joe Daniher. He soared early to take a screamer over Dogs teenager Lewis Young, and always looked threatening when the ball was in his vicinity, kicking his fifth goal early in the second half to regain the lead in the Coleman Medal race.
Just as it had been at quarter-time, the Dogs' lead was five points at the long break, but Essendon kept nipping at their heels for much of a marathon third-quarter. Cale Hooker had missed a gilt-edged chance in the goal-square earlier in the quarter in the face of pressure from Young, but when the Bomber snapped truly at the 25-minute mark the margin had been cut to just a single point. However the Dogs duly kicked the next three goals, the last of which came from Jordan Roughead, who, having had the better of ruck opponent Tom Bellchambers around the ground, gave his team its biggest lead to that point of the game.
Essendon controlled general play for much of the final quarter, but goals were agonisingly hard to come by. Daniher equalled his career-best by kicking his sixth early in the final term, but was thwarted thereafter by Zaine Cordy, who stood tall despite a barrage of inside 50s. Darcy Parish missed a gettable shot, while Jobe Watson had a forgettable final quarter, typified by an ugly wayward banana from the forward pocket. Orazio Fantasia tumbled one through on the cusp of time-on, trimming the gap to just a goal, but the Dogs had the answers. Marcus Bontempelli capped off another stellar performance by sinking a set shot, before a few late Dogs majors provided padding, and potentially valuable percentage.
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