Round 10 – Western Bulldogs v Adelaide: Dogs too good

 

Almanacker Glen! presents his match report of the third AFL match he has attended since 2000. He discovered Ballarat is a lovely setting for football. 

 

            Maryanne and I toodled off to Ballarat for the Western Bulldogs, Adelaide clash. This being just my third Australian Football League (AFL) game this century.  Memories of going to a Victorian Football League (VFL) match on a Saturday, then a Victorian Football Association (VFA) on Sunday are just that, memories.

 

            Ballarat is a footy town. The Ballarat Football-Netball Club has been running since May 20, 1860, the third longest continuous club behind Melbourne, and Geelong. This was circa a year after our first football club, the Melbourne Football Club, was established.  In 1874 a formal competition was established in Ballarat.  With the establishment of the Victorian Football Association in 1877 three Ballarat teams joined.

 

Over time moves were made for establishment of the Ballarat Football Association in 1893. The name changed to the Ballarat Football League in 1908, and the League keeps running strongly.

By the turn of the twentieth century Ballarat teams were playing sides from the VFL.   Ballarat football was coming along nicely.

Ballarat has produced its fair share of champions. Bobby Davis, Tony Lockett, Tony Frawley Micky Malthouse, Micky McGuane are some of the obvious ones.  In the current Adelaide squad, there was Matt Crouch, a former Adelaide Best and Fairest, though he didn’t play in this match.

 

            Anyhow enough of the history rave, let’s get down to the tintacks, the actual match.  Off we went the drive to Ballarat taking us through the cloudy, wet, elements as with a slippery Western Highway beneath our wheels we passed those signs to well-known haunts such as Bacchus Marsh, Trentham, Wallace, before we got into the home straight. You know when you’re approaching about 10 kilometres from Ballarat the temperature falls rapidly. What’s that about Ballarat, if you think it’s cold, it gets colder.

 

            Entering the ground, it was, well so, 2023. My memories of having a seasons pass, cardboard tickets, seem to have gone into the dustbin of history. In we go, Maryanne shows them the tickets on her phone, then the next process, bag searches, sort of familiar territory in our world of today. Next up metal body scanners: now I’m getting out of touch with twenty first century football. Oh well let’s buy the footy record: no cash, card only ! This is a different world to my recollection.

 

            We took our seats. The weather was cold, but the heavens rarely opened. From our seating up in Row V of the Western grandstand we looked across Ballarat, at the hills near Kryal Castle, saw the showers, etc, drift across from the south-west, a very picturesque spot to view the match as well as the local landscape. So off goes the match, the Western Bulldogs currently sixth on the table take on the pride of South Australia, Adelaide’s Crows.

 

            The Bulldogs got on top quickly.  With Liam Jones being a tower of strength in defence the Bulldogs on ballers, especially Bailey Smith, won plenty of the ball. They had marking options in Aaron Naughton, also Jamara Ugle-Hagen, who even if they weren’t converting were bringing the ball to the ground for their teammates.

 

At the other end  Adelaide did not have the same good fortune. True Lance Gollant kicked the opening goal of the match apart from that not much productive took place in the forward half.  Would ‘Tex’ Walker have made a difference, maybe Riley Tilthorpe: probably not. Adelaide was not helped by losing Match Hinge who fell awkwardly when attempting a spoil. At quarter time the Bulldogs had put in place a nice lead.

 

            In the second term the Bulldogs consolidated the lead, though Adelaide outscored them in a low scoring quarter. The premiership term, the third quarter, saw the Bulldogs pull away. Early goals to Anthony Scott, and Rory Lobb dampened Adelaide’s hopes of getting back into the match. Poor kicking for goal limited the Bulldog’s lead, with their on-field dominance not reflected on the scoreboard. Sadly, they lost Jason Johannisen to a hamstring injury,  which was a blow. His pace, his run, provided plenty of drive to his team. (Has there been a better player come out of South Africa?)  We also saw Adelaide’s Izak Rankine reported for crunching the Bulldogs Taylor Duryea. It was an interesting day for the Duryea family.

 

Whilst Taylor played in a Bulldogs outfit that was victorious over in Adelaide his uncle Geoff Duryea was also looking for a victory. Geoff’s horse Front Page was the top weight in the big Adelaide sprint race, the Goodwood. Well Taylor may have copped a heavy knock, but his team won; Geoff’s horse was unplaced.

 

            For the Bulldogs  Bailey Smith winning the ball 37 times, finding/setting up teammates was their best player. Strong support from Tom Liberatore, Marcus Bontempelli, Tim English, Liam Jones, Bailey Dale, and Caleb Daniel gave them the winning edge. The Bulldogs picked up over 100 more disposals, as well as doubling the scoring shots. You could almost say the 45-point winning margin flattered Adelaide so dominant the Bulldogs were in most aspects of the clash.

 

            For the outclassed Adelaide we saw Rory Laird never give up, picking up 34 possessions, 16 which were contested. There was also Reilly O’Brien who had a fine ruck duel with Tim English. He  managed a staggering 63 hit outs, contributing to Adelaide’s 72 hit outs, more than doubling the Bulldogs tally of 35 hit outs, but his teammates could not take advantage of this. Other players like Josh Rachele, Chayce Jones, Wayne Milera, flashed in and out of the game, but none managed to have any real influence on the clash.

 

Lance Franklin Award  I’m awarding this to the leading indigenous goal kicker on the day. That was Adelaide’s  Izak Rankine with a solitary goal.  It wasn’t a great day for him, yes he was the leading  indigenous goal scorer, but his side got thumped, he also got reported for up-ending the Bulldogs Taylor Duryea.

 

Michael McLean/Andrew McLeod Award  Ok, who did I reckon was the best indigenous player on the ground? I’d give it to Liam Jones; hasn’t he had an intriguing career? Starting off as forward with the Western Bulldogs, being flicked over to Carlton where he became a damn, fine back man, then returning to the Western Bulldogs, football has been an agreeable job for him.  His role in defence, especially early on, set up the Bulldogs initial ascendancy. His big thumps of the ball to build the Bulldogs attack, (how did Bernie Vince miss this on the golden fist segment of Bounce?), his marshalling of the backline to both halt Adelaide attacks, while kicking off Bulldog attacks, was invaluable. His presence at the start gave the Bulldogs the impetus required to set up a good early break.

 

WESTERN BULLDOGS     4.7    5.13    9.19   11.19 (85)
ADELAIDE                               1.2    3.4      4.6     5.10 (40)

 

GOALS
Western Bulldogs:
Scott 2, Macrae 2, Gardner, Naughton, Williams, Daniel, Lobb, Weightman, Bontempelli
Adelaide: Rachele 2, Gollant, Rankine, Dawson

 

BEST
Western Bulldogs:
Smith, English, L.Jones, Dale, Liberatore, Daniel, Bontempelli
Adelaide: Laird, Pedlar, Jones, Dawson, Rachele, Murray

 

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs:
Johannisen (hamstring)
Adelaide: Hinge (concussion)

 

SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs:
Lachlan McNeil (replaced Jason Johannisen in the third quarter)
Adelaide: Sam Berry (replaced Mitchell Hinge in the first quarter)

 

Crowd: 10,114 at Mars Stadium

 

            As I said at the start this is only my third game this century, one each decade so far.  Ballarat provides a lovely setting for the football, so I may return to future matches there. Well done Ballarat, well done Western Bulldogs.

Glen!

 

 

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Comments

  1. Mark 'Swish' Schwerdt says

    I went too Glen! but I was lucky to get in. Went to buy a ticket on Satdy morning after deciding that I was over my sniffles. Couldn’t find a ticket on-line despite nowhere else saying that it was a sellout. Decided to drive there anyway (and trains were coaches from Bacchus Marsh). Found a park quite easily (Norman St, east of Creswick Rd for future reference) but no can do when I got to the gate.

    Fortunately someone else that I knew wasn’t going so I was able to use his ticket. Thanks to you know who you are.

    Enjoyed the throwback atmosphere, but the viewing experience itself was reminiscent of a crowded day at Princes Park in the 90s, my first Victorian footy experience. Adelaide’s clashing jumper didn’t help my old eyes pick out the action, although it was obvious from the get go that the Dogs had come to play.

    The playing surface was very cramped and Adelaide never adjusted to it. As you said, Dogs were too good and could have won by a lot more.

    Hope Adelaide puts an end to being fixtured at Ballarat, time for others to have their turn..

  2. Ta ‘Swish’.

    Yep we also parked on Creswick Rd, a nice 6-7 minute wander to the ground.

    Pity you didn’t seem to get a decent view. Where we were high up in the Western Stand was fine.

    Oh well you arrived post sniffles, I departed with the sniffles.

    Ballarat is cold, though it gets colder.

    Glen!

  3. Great story Glen
    Want to see a game at Ballarat, which I might next game.
    Remember watching cricket and using the electronic scoreboard for Country Week Cricket with one Luke Reynolds in the Mid 1990s

  4. Mic Rees says

    Hello Glen.

    Terrific read my good man. Extra points for the “Magic” Mick McLean reference, brings back some wonderful memories of one of our former greats.

    Glad you enjoyed your day in Ballarat. Doesn’t surprise me, I always found the good people of the NBFC extremely generous whenever the Borough visited during the early part of the century.

    BTW – What were the other two AFL games you attended this millennium?

    Thanks for your fine efforts.

    MCR

  5. Ta Mic, yes the games this century have been spaced.

    In 2015 we crossed the ditch, saw the Carlton V St. Kilda, Anzac Day centenary clash in Wellington.

    A few years earlier when I worked in the youth detox we were given tickets to a Collingwood V Western Bulldogs clash at Colonial. So us two staff rostered that evening took the four patients. I remember it was a Friday night, as I was working an afternoon shift, but the year? It was sometime in the middle of the years, 2004-2009.

    I’d like to go to another game one day; where? Maybe Ballarat again but Canberra, Darwin, Launceston all have their appeal.

    Mic , your Dogs are looking OK. The time between premierships may be a lot less than 62 years.

    Glen!

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