southerncross
10-06-2007, 07:56 AM
Clinical Dogs hunt in packs (http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfmatchreport/clinical-dogs-hunt-in-packs/2007/06/09/1181089406734.html)
YOU would have been forgiven for thinking the match between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions was all about one man.
In a way, it was. Individually, and indisputably, Jason Akermanis had more riding on this match than most. He had a serviceable game, kicking two first-quarter goals and beating former teammate Robert Copeland in the process.
But in every other respect, the Bulldogs were a consummate team unit and far too good for the Lions, the final 23-point margin an inaccurate reflection of the difference between the two sides.
However, the Bulldogs paid a terrible price for the win. Ryan Griffen was close to best on ground in defence before dislocating his kneecap in the second quarter, while Daniel Cross, Robert Murphy and Nathan Eagleton were further casualties.
The injury toll took the gloss off the victory for the Doggies, whose season remains delicately poised with a 6-5 win-loss record at the halfway point.
Brad Johnson set up the win with four first-half goals, while Lindsay Gilbee and Griffen, before his injury, cut Brisbane to pieces from defence. Full-back Brian Harris was also a winner, completely blanketing Jonathan Brown.
For the Lions, whose season began with such unexpected promise, the portents are bleak. After two goals in the opening three minutes, Brisbane barely looked like kicking another until Brown dobbed his first goal nine minutes into the third quarter.
The Lions had started brightly, with Tim Notting and Jared Brennan finding the goals inside three minutes, but it quickly proved a mirage.
The Bulldogs flayed the Lions all over the park for the remainder of the quarter, kicking six goals from 14 scoring opportunities, including five rushed behinds.
Akermanis' contribution was not without theatre. He lined up for his first in the 20th minute to a huge round of boos, but the crowd was silenced by the time he nailed a second shot within a minute as the Bulldogs streaked away.
The second quarter, however, was a nightmare for the Doggies, despite keeping the Lions goalless.
Cross went down first, with the initial diagnosis a strained medial ligament. Murphy followed and had to have his ankle iced on the bench, before Eagleton clashed heads with Farren Ray and staggered from the field with blood streaming from a head wound.
It was the loss of Griffen that hurt the Dogs most, though, the brilliant running defender getting his knee trapped under the weight of a Jed Adcock tackle.
The attrition rate should have halted the Bulldogs' run, yet they still managed to make the Lions look second-rate for much of the third quarter, despite conceding four goals in a late burst by the home side. Notting, Brennan and Nigel Lappin had reduced the margin from 55 points to a comparatively gettable six goals, until a running goal by Ray put an early finish to proceedings.
The Bulldogs failed to kick another goal for the match, but the contest was already long over, with the highlight of the last quarter an amazing boundary-line goal by Brennan. Brown, Notting and Marcus Allan added consolation goals.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.8 7.12 13.15 13.17 (95)
BRISBANE LIONS 2.3 2.6 7.8 10.12 (72)
GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Johnson 4, Akermanis 2, Eagleton 2, Cooney, Boyd, Hahn, Higgins, Ray. Brisbane Lions: Notting 3, Brennan 3, Brown 2, Lappin, Allan. BEST: Western Bulldogs: Johnson, Gilbee, West, Cooney, Harris, Eagleton. Brisbane Lions: Charman, Adcock, Lappin, Notting, Brennan.
INJURIES: Brisbane Lions: McGrath (knee) replaced in selected side by Schmidt. Western Bulldogs: Cross (medial ligament), Murphy (ankle), Eagleton (cut head), Griffen (dislocated kneecap).
UMPIRES: Stevic, Chamberlain, Wenn.
CROWD: 29,873 at the Gabba.
YOU would have been forgiven for thinking the match between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions was all about one man.
In a way, it was. Individually, and indisputably, Jason Akermanis had more riding on this match than most. He had a serviceable game, kicking two first-quarter goals and beating former teammate Robert Copeland in the process.
But in every other respect, the Bulldogs were a consummate team unit and far too good for the Lions, the final 23-point margin an inaccurate reflection of the difference between the two sides.
However, the Bulldogs paid a terrible price for the win. Ryan Griffen was close to best on ground in defence before dislocating his kneecap in the second quarter, while Daniel Cross, Robert Murphy and Nathan Eagleton were further casualties.
The injury toll took the gloss off the victory for the Doggies, whose season remains delicately poised with a 6-5 win-loss record at the halfway point.
Brad Johnson set up the win with four first-half goals, while Lindsay Gilbee and Griffen, before his injury, cut Brisbane to pieces from defence. Full-back Brian Harris was also a winner, completely blanketing Jonathan Brown.
For the Lions, whose season began with such unexpected promise, the portents are bleak. After two goals in the opening three minutes, Brisbane barely looked like kicking another until Brown dobbed his first goal nine minutes into the third quarter.
The Lions had started brightly, with Tim Notting and Jared Brennan finding the goals inside three minutes, but it quickly proved a mirage.
The Bulldogs flayed the Lions all over the park for the remainder of the quarter, kicking six goals from 14 scoring opportunities, including five rushed behinds.
Akermanis' contribution was not without theatre. He lined up for his first in the 20th minute to a huge round of boos, but the crowd was silenced by the time he nailed a second shot within a minute as the Bulldogs streaked away.
The second quarter, however, was a nightmare for the Doggies, despite keeping the Lions goalless.
Cross went down first, with the initial diagnosis a strained medial ligament. Murphy followed and had to have his ankle iced on the bench, before Eagleton clashed heads with Farren Ray and staggered from the field with blood streaming from a head wound.
It was the loss of Griffen that hurt the Dogs most, though, the brilliant running defender getting his knee trapped under the weight of a Jed Adcock tackle.
The attrition rate should have halted the Bulldogs' run, yet they still managed to make the Lions look second-rate for much of the third quarter, despite conceding four goals in a late burst by the home side. Notting, Brennan and Nigel Lappin had reduced the margin from 55 points to a comparatively gettable six goals, until a running goal by Ray put an early finish to proceedings.
The Bulldogs failed to kick another goal for the match, but the contest was already long over, with the highlight of the last quarter an amazing boundary-line goal by Brennan. Brown, Notting and Marcus Allan added consolation goals.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 6.8 7.12 13.15 13.17 (95)
BRISBANE LIONS 2.3 2.6 7.8 10.12 (72)
GOALS: Western Bulldogs: Johnson 4, Akermanis 2, Eagleton 2, Cooney, Boyd, Hahn, Higgins, Ray. Brisbane Lions: Notting 3, Brennan 3, Brown 2, Lappin, Allan. BEST: Western Bulldogs: Johnson, Gilbee, West, Cooney, Harris, Eagleton. Brisbane Lions: Charman, Adcock, Lappin, Notting, Brennan.
INJURIES: Brisbane Lions: McGrath (knee) replaced in selected side by Schmidt. Western Bulldogs: Cross (medial ligament), Murphy (ankle), Eagleton (cut head), Griffen (dislocated kneecap).
UMPIRES: Stevic, Chamberlain, Wenn.
CROWD: 29,873 at the Gabba.