WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.2 5.6 10.9 13.12 (90)
ST KILDA 2.1 3.2 5.5 7.8 (50)
GOALS: Western Bulldogs - Stringer 5, Dale, Johannissen, Picken, Bontempelli, Suckling, Murphy, Boyd, Dickson. St Kilda - McKenzie, Billings, Gresham, Newnes, Weller, McCartin, Membrey.
BEST: Western Bulldogs - Stringer, Macrae, Wallis, Adams, Dale, Jong, Hunter, Johannisen. St Kilda - Newnes, Longer, Gilbert, Stevens.
UMPIRES: Meredith, Findlay, Hay.
CROWD: 34,685 at Etihad Stadium.
The contrast could barely have been greater. The match had just about slipped from St Kilda's grasp, but it wasn't quite gone yet. Deep in the third quarter at Etihad Stadium on Saturday they headed forward, one last thrust, perfectly aimed at the scoreless Paddy McCartin.
It was a mark a full-forward had to take, but he grassed it. Coming off two straight defeats, the Western Bulldogs weren't feeling generous. Quick smart, the reigning premiers raced the ball from one end to the other, their transition handball game in full flight.
Even teenage ruck debutant Tim English was getting in on the act. In it came, deep into the Dogs' forward 50, and into the arms of Jake Stringer. He went back and slotted his fifth goal of the day. No other player on the ground had more than one. The margin was out to 34 points, and the game was as good as over.
It had been heading that way for some while though. The Dogs had kicked seven of the nine goals preceding that point, as they steadily worked their way on top of the Saints after a lacklustre start.
It was Stringer who kept them in the game during the first half, but by the third term he had plenty of help. Outgunned early, the Dogs midfielders showed their superiority as the game wore on.
Lachie Hunter blanketed Jack Steven, Jack Macrae and Luke Dahlhaus became key contributors, Lin Jong worked hard at the coalface, while Mitch Wallis wasn't missing a beat in his second senior game back from a knee reconstruction.
Bob Murphy had some shaky moments in the first half but his class came to fore as the day went on, while Jason Johannisen's run also became increasingly telling, and youngster Bailey Dale played a beauty.
Even with Tom Boyd and the returning Jordan Roughead – playing forward as a late inclusion for Clay Smith – relatively subdued, and Marcus Bontempelli unusually wasteful, the Dogs controlled the back half of the game well enough to ensure they kicked a winning score.
Other than a hamstring scare for Murphy the final quarter was eminently forgettable, although McCartin at least broke his duck, albeit much too late.
Between them, Nick Riewoldt and Travis Cloke have kicked 1153 AFL goals. They are far and away the most prolific goalkickers on the respective lists of the Saints and the Bulldogs. Neither played on Saturday though, with Riewoldt sidelined because of his banged-up knee, and the maligned Cloke dropped just a week after returning from broken ribs.
The reasons were different, but in the absence of two mighty goalkickers, majors were hard to come by for most players.
The one exception was Stringer. Eight goals had been kicked between the two sides to half-time, and the freakish Dogs forward – back after his own two-week layoff with a knee ailment – had kicked half of them, as the Saints coaches shuffled the deckchairs to find a suitable match-up before finally settling on Sam Gilbert, who did a serviceable job in the second half.
Perhaps the best of Stringer's goals was a set shot sunk from 45 metres out on the boundary line midway through the second term. There could have been more, he'd missed a couple too, had sold a dummy that had led to a Dale behind, and was overlooked by Wallis who instead spotted up Tory Dickson shortly before the long interval that resulted in the first non-Stringer Bulldog goal of the day.
That was the third of a run of three goals late in the half that gave the Dogs a handy 16-point buffer at the break. The Dogs had started to find their groove, but for the preceding quarter-and-a-half St Kilda had dominated. Not that they had the goals to show for it. The Saints led just about every significant disposal category at both quarter-time and half-time, but in Riewoldt's absence couldn't find a winning forward.
Midfield turnovers didn't help their cause, but McCartin and Tim Membrey had limited impact, while Jade Gresham was sloppy. Credit should however go the Dogs' backmen, specifically Marcus Adams, who clawed superbly to foil repeated St Kilda entries.
In a previous life Jake Carlisle kicked eight goals for Essendon against the Bulldogs, and Alan Richardson threw the former Bomber forward after half-time in attempt to find a means to score. It didn't work, and before long he was back in defence.
It begged the question why Josh Bruce hadn't been recalled to replace Riewoldt.
VOTES
J Stringer (WB) 9
J Macrae (WB) 7
M Wallis (WB) 7
M Adams (WB) 7
B Dale (WB) 6
