The Western Bulldogs‘ demolition of GWS on Thursday night was summed up precisely with one damning line by 3AW radio commentator Anthony Hudson.
“Have they got an opposition?!” a disbelieving Hudson exclaimed during the second quarter.
He thought the Bulldogs had scored yet another goal. They hadn’t. But in a hideous opening half for the Giants, that goal review was just about the only thing that went their way.
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The second half didn’t pan out much better for the Giants, who after trailing by 61 points at the main break lost the game by 88 points, 19.18 (132) to 6.8 (44).
They had lost skipper Toby Greene, blue-chip midfielder Josh Kelly and defender Jack Buckley for the Marvel Stadium clash, but that’s no excuse for what transpired, especially in a match so critical to the make-up of the top eight.
The Bulldogs won the disposal count 347-305, contested possessions 137-86, clearances 41-24, and inside 50s 58-36.
The Giants’ disposal efficiency was slightly higher, but that counts for little when you have so little of the ball.
And the Giants turned the footy over on 59 occasions; the Bulldogs did so 48 times.
The Giants actually won the first centre clearance of the game, but the Bulldogs gained possession at half-back, sling-shotted the ball up the guts, and got it to prodigious key forward Sam Darcy, who dribbled it through for a goal.
Despite having lost the first centre clearance, the Bulldogs had a goal on the board less than 30 seconds into the game.
Darcy and Aaron Naughton kicked five goals each, Lachlan McNeil booted three majors, and Tim English bagged two goals.
GWS coach Adam Kingsley. Getty
The Bulldogs’ leading ball-winners were skipper Marcus Bontempelli (27 touches, 11 contested) and veteran on-baller Tom Liberatore, who chalked up 26 possessions, including 12 contested.
The Giants’ Lachie Ash (36 disposals) and Lachie Whitfield (29) had few helpers.
North Melbourne great David King wondered at full-time if the Giants’ third-quarter pummelling of the Swans last week, in which they piled on 57 points in a thunderous come-from-behind win, had left them too relaxed for Thursday night’s game.
“I think the Giants spent the week looking backwards at how good that third quarter was against the Sydney Swans, and weren’t ready, absolutely locked in and ready to fight the fight for the cause,” King said on the Fox Footy broadcast.
Marcus Bontempelli in action. Getty
“And they got whacked between the eyes.
“They weren’t ready. The coach [Adam Kingsley] will be furious with this performance.”
The Giants could have climbed from sixth to second with a win on Thursday night. They instead dropped to seventh, and their percentage copped a battering.
The Bulldogs jumped from ninth to eighth, but the Gold Coast Suns will knock them back out of the eight if they beat Richmond on Saturday evening, which is expected.
