Western Bulldogs –21.11(137)
Port Adelaide –7. 2(44)
The Western Bulldogs have cemented the third position on the ladder, at the mid-way mark of the season with a absolute thrashing of Port Adelaide at TIO Stadium in Darwin, under 27 degree temperatures.
Big moment
The Dogs won the first quarter clearances and from there took the ball inside the forward fifty 5 more times than the Power. The Dogs took a lead into quarter time of 19 points. In the second the Power fought back in the clearance department, but the Dogs kicked two goals in the first three minutes of the second quarter to extend the lead to 31 points. It was an easy ride home from there as the Dogs kicked away with 15 more goals to the Powers 7.
Key Players for the Western Bulldogs
Ryan Hargrave – Was fantastic for the Dogs as he ran easily off Justin Westhoff . He collected 29 possessions (14 in the first half), had 17 kicks and took 10 marks.
Daniel Cross – Was solid and consistent the entire game. He collected 37 possessions (30 of which were handballs), made 5 tackles and took 9 marks.
Callan Ward – He also had a solid game with 33 possessions, 6 marks and added to the 93 point margin with a goal.
Jarrad Harbrow – Played against Robbie Gray and was terrific as he ran off him. He collected 22 disposals, took 7 marks and laid 4 tackles.
Special mentions also go to; Adam Cooney, Lindsay Gilbee Will Minson and Ryan Griffin who all had outstanding games also.
Key Players for Port Adelaide
Toby Thurstans – Ran off Scott Welsh the whole match and beat him. He had an extremely solid day in defence with 7 marks and 24 touches to his name.
Domenic Cassisi – The skipper tried to lift his side all night. He has a consistent night with 19 disposals, 3 marks and a game high 9 tackles.
Kane Cornes – Dominated Matthew Boyd in the first half, but then let him run. He still had a relatively consistent game with 36 possessions and game high 12 marks.
Musings from the match
• Port’s score was their lowest score against the Dogs
• The Dogs shared their big win with 13 individual goal-kickers.
• The match was played in 27 degree temperatures where the players were rushing to the cool rooms at each break to refresh.
• The clearances in the first quarter went the Dogs way; 10-7. They also went inside the forward fifty 5 more times.
• Robert Murphy got through unscathed in his first game in a month
• The Dogs never took the foot off the pedal kicking 8 gaols to the Powers 2 in the final quarter.
• The Dogs had 60 more possessions than the Power in the third quarter. They entered the final quarter leading the disposal count361 to 239 and with a 55 point margin.
• The Bulldogs ended the match with 63 more kicks, 68 more handballs, 33 more marks and overall 131 more disposals than Port.
• The Power also lost out in the hit outs; 29-37.
• The Dogs even though dominated the clearances early only won them in the end by 1.
• The Dogs pretty much not only dominated the scoreboard but almost every other game statistic other than the following: Port had 3 more rebound 50’s, 2 more Frees For, 6 more bounces and were more accurate in front of goal by 15.79%.
SuperCoach News
Keep an eye on the following possibly injured players:
Daniel Motlop did not play the last quarter with a possible reoccurrence of an ankle injury.
Jason Akermanis may also have a possible illness, at one point he was pointing at his guts, he did play on however.
The Western Bulldogs had 8 players scoring over 100+ points; Cross(152), Ward(129), Gilbee(129), Hargrave(138), Cooney(124), Minson(101), Griffin(122) and Harbrow(110), whereas Port Adelaide only had Toby Thurstan’s with 117 points.
Tags: Callan Ward, Daniel Cross, Daniel Motlop, Domenic Cassisi, Jarrad Harbrow, Jason Akermanis, Kane Cornes, Ryan Hargrave, Toby Thurstans
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