The Western Bulldogs’ finals hopes stay alive after surviving an enormous scare from a depleted Geelong, rallying to win by 25 factors and break a 20-year hoodoo at GMHBA Stadium.
Down by 21 factors nearing halftime, the Bulldogs had carried their flat kind throughout shock losses to West Coast and Hawthorn within the final fortnight all the way down to a venue the place they hadn’t received since 2003.
But with their season hanging by a thread, the highly-touted Dogs rediscovered kind within the second half, kicking 10.6 to 4.2 after the primary break to prevail 16.8 (104) to 11.13 (79).
The Bulldogs will spend Saturday evening inside the highest eight, however need to depend on the in-form however undermanned Carlton defeating GWS within the final sport of the home-and-away season on Sunday to be assured of taking part in finals for a fifth-straight season.
The outcome will likely be candy aid for coach Luke Beveridge after every week of warmth on him following their shock loss to the Eagles that positioned the Bulldogs’ marketing campaign into peril.
“Our boys probably just gained a little bit of confidence as the night went on,” Beveridge mentioned.
“A big part of our pre-game (was) don’t worry about consequences, we needed to free ourselves up.
“Hopefully it is not too little, too late.”
Premiership midfielder Tom Liberatore (32 possessions) made a welcome return from concussion, combining with captain Marcus Bontempelli (31) and fellow gun onballer Adam Treloar (33) to boost the Bulldogs.
But it was the oft-maligned Rory Lobb, who arrived from Fremantle on a big contract during the off-season, who delivered one of the best performances of his career in an unexpected star turn.
Lobb finished with an equal game-high three goals, but his move to spend more time in the ruck and push All-Australian fancy Tim English further forward proved to be a masterstroke.
Aaron Naughton, who received treatment late in the match before returning to the ground, was also influential up forward with three goals.
Geelong were scoreless in the final term until small forward Tyson Stengle snapped a consolation goal with a minute remaining.
Four-time premiership star Isaac Smith bowed out with a tremendous outing for Geelong, slotting the first goal of the night and finishing with 36 disposals as he was given a guard of honour in his 280th and final match.
Smith also provided the funniest moment of the game, comically jumping on Patrick Dangerfield after the Cats captain kicked a clutch goal after the three-quarter-time siren.
Geelong’s young players, headlined by Ollie Henry (three goals), tried hard but the Cats were unable to cover the loss of nine premiership players.
The likes of Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins and Gary Rohan all sat out the match after their finals hopes ended last week with a loss to St Kilda.
The Cats will miss the top-eight for just the second time since Chris Scott became coach in 2011.
“There have been numerous issues and causes to be happy with the efficiency and a few indicators that give us optimism for what we will do in ’24,” Scott mentioned.
“It was actually simply late after we received a bit fatigued and some of these not so hardened, well-prepared AFL footballers, at the very least to play proper via the 4 quarters, simply type of light just a little bit.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
