Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 16.15 (111) def WEST COAST 13.11 (89)
IT’S been a long an ultimately unsuccessful 2013 campaign for the West Coast Eagles, a disappointing season underscored by yesterday afternoon’s 22-point loss to the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
While the Eagles came into the contest battling poor form and injuries, the Bulldogs were still the underdogs in the contest but surprised many with some of their best footy of the year highlighted by the performances of Tom Liberatore (29 possessions and 12 tackles), Luke Dalhaus (29 possessions, six tackles, four goals) and Jarrad Grant (16 possessions and three goals).
“It was just terrific today to see people running, confident with the ball, and wanting to take the game on. It was good,” said Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney afterwards.
“We’ve probably been building for a few weeks.
“I think all of us have felt we hadn’t got enough reward for the hard work we were putting in.
“There were times today where those young guys just got a hand in, or made a tackle, or slowed the opposition down or knocked the ball out.
“It was a good all-round effort today. It was a good win for our club.”
The continuing rise of Liberatore, who was playing his 50th game, was especially i9mportant for the club and not just for this vitory.
After being suspended at the end of last season Liberatore’s career could have have gone either way. Fortunately for the Bulldogs, McCartney has helped him move the right way with Liberatore now averaging 25 possessions per game this season.
For the Eagles the easy out for this game is point to a long list of injuries that includes Mark Nicoski and Beau Waters with season ending injuries and Nic Naitanui, Darren Glass and Mark LeCras who were unavailable for this game.
The loss, the 10th on the year for then, has also made it unlikely that the Eagles will play in the finals this year.
“We’re not really focused too much on finals, which we haven’t really been for a fair part of this year unfortunately,” said West Coast Eagles coach John Worsfold.
“We’re focused on performing at a higher level and maintaining the intensity that’s been a big focus for us.
“I thought the guys played with pretty good intensity today.
“We just weren’t skilful enough, so that’ll be our focus for the reminder of the year.”
West Coast will face Gold Coast next Saturday at Patersons Stadium while the Western Bulldogs will play the Sydney Swans at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Here are the highlghts from the game:
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 7.7 12.10 16.14 (111)
WEST COAST 4.4 7.6 10.8 13.11 (89)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Dahlhaus 4, Dickson 3, Grant 3, Addison 2, Boyd, Cooney, Giansiracusa, Murphy
West Coast: Hill 3, Kennedy 3, Cripps 2, Darling 2, Wellingham 2, Dalziell
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Murphy, Cooney, Liberatore, Griffen, Dahlhaus, Grant, Minson, Stevens
West Coast: Gaff, Hutchings, Wellingham, Cox, Selwood, Kennedy
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
West Coast: Masten (ankle)
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Daniel Giansiracusa replaced by Jackson Macrae in the fourth quarter
West Coast: Chris Masten replaced by Cale Morton in the third quarter
Umpires: Wenn, Foot, Fisher
Official crowd: 17,019 at Etihad Stadium