THE WESTERN BULLDOGS' BEST 10 WINS OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
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The last decade has seen the club from Melbourne’s west break a 62-year premiership drought, and establish a women’s side which went on to add silverware.
It also saw four bottom six finishes, and a total implosion at the midway point.
In picking this list I looked not just for critical wins in premiership years, but wins that gave fans a glimmer of hope, or provided a salve in a difficult year.
Without further ado, here are the Dogs’ 10 best wins of the past 10 years:
10. 2014 Round 3 versus Richmond
Result: Western Bulldogs 100 - Richmond 98
In the hours before the ball was bounced, competitive footy returned to Whitten Oval with Footscray dishing out a 117 point hiding to the same opposition. The pubs were all gone, and the terraces covered in grass, but the Bulldogs were home.
Under the roof, the seniors raced out to a 38-point lead early in the third term, with Tom Liberatore (12 clearances) feeding it out to Jack Macrae (23 uncontested possessions), an emerging star but a shadow of the lithe, gritty facilitator into which he evolved.
The lead slowly unraveled over the second half and Jack Riewoldt kicked the Tigers into the lead with his fourth, a tick over three minutes on the clock remaining. This was the Dogs’ day, though.
Daniel Giansiracusa won a free in the forward pocket, after Brandon Ellis threw the old dog to the ground like a sack of flour. The No. 13 snapped truly - he always did - and the pups clung on with grim determination.
9. 2018 AFLW Round 7 versus Melbourne
Result: Western Bulldogs 33 - Melbourne 31
You could make a case for the 73-point win over Carlton three weeks earlier, but this game was meaningful for the strength of this Melbourne team, and the ramifications for the Bulldogs’ season.
Held scoreless in the opening term kicking into a strong breeze, the Dogs kept the Dees to just one goal from a +9 inside 50 differential over the term, and kicked the next three.
Four lead changes ensued, but the decisive moment was Brooke Lochland’s snap for the lead with a minute and a half on the clock.
The win assured the Bulldogs of first place - yet to be achieved by the men, who entered the VFL in 1925 - and a home Grand Final.
8. 2013 Round 21 versus Adelaide
Result: Western Bulldogs 131 - Adelaide 114
The word “shootout” was not in former Dogs boss Brendan McCartney’s vocabulary, but that’s exactly what he witnessed under the roof in this game.
At the first change, there were eleven goals on the board and seven came from the red, white and blue. The Crows kicked six in a row for a 22-point lead late in the third, but the Dogs kicked nine of the last eleven to emerge the winners.
Tory Dickson kicked six, and Tom Campbell snagged four. A handful of old Dogs - Cross, Cooney, Giansiracusa, Minson - hit the scoreboard, while 2016 premiership winger and 2018 best and fairest winner Lachie Hunter rode on Ben Rutten’s shoulders in just his seventh game.
There wasn’t much to cheer about for Dogs fans for a few years there, but this was one of the good days.
7. 2018 AFLW Grand Final versus Brisbane
Result: Western Bulldogs 27 - Brisbane 21
At half time, it wasn’t looking good for the Dogs. Throughout the season, the team sought to move the ball precisely, looking for overlap and options inside as opposed to playing in the direct, territory-oriented style that characterizes much of the early AFLW.
With Emma Kearney, Ellie Blackburn and Jenna Bruton in the engine room, Hannah Scott cutting off the opposition and launching chains, Monique Conti and Deanna Berry rolling up from the forward line to provide the outnumber and Bonnie Toogood deputizing for Katie Brennan as a target, it was a potent formula.
On Grand Final day however, it bucketed with rain and Lions defender Kate Lutkins cut off every thrust. By the main break, the Dogs had a solitary point from 14 forward entries. The third term was more fruitful as they adapted to the conditions, with Berry launching their first from beyond the arc, Kirsten McLeod snapping for the lead and Conti dazzling.
Late in the last, Kearney kicked truly after dispossessing Kaitlyn Ashmore, and the Dogs held on for the premiership. The season vindicated their progressive tactics before the squad was split up by expansion, but the big dance was all grit.
6. 2019 Round 21 versus Essendon
Result: Western Bulldogs 137 - Essendon 33
Shiel.
Smith. Naughton. Dickson. McLean. Dickson. Dunkley. McLean. Dickson. Dale. Naughton. McLean. Dale. Dale. Hayes. Schache. Johannisen. Schache. Lloyd. Schache. Hayes. Macrae.
McDonald-Tipungwuti. Baguley. Baguley.
5. 2015 Round 5 versus Sydney
Result: Western Bulldogs 77 - Sydney 73
“They’ll hang on, the Dogs… they are gonna hang on… mark this day down Western Bulldogs fans! Saturday, May the 2nd, 2015!”
This was the match that set the tone for the premiership run. The Dogs led by 20 early in the second term after kicking six in a row, and as the rain set in the match became about clinging onto that lead.
Liam Picken (recently redeployed as a ball-winner), Koby Stevens, Luke Dahlhaus and Marcus Bontempelli recorded 110 disposals, 30 tackles and 18 entries between them, a midfield cobbled together in the aftermath of Ryan Griffen’s departure and Tom Liberatore’s knee injury standing up to the competition’s most fearsome on-ball collective.
Five scoring shots in a row saw the Swans break ahead for 10 minutes in the final term, but Easton Wood’s flying kick on the goal line returned the Dogs to the lead, and his composed gather and handball to Jason Johannisen ensured the win.
4. 2016 Semi Final versus Hawthorn
Result: Western Bulldogs 107 - Hawthorn 84
13 minutes into the second term, Liam Shiels kicked a goal to put Hawthorn ahead by 23; five minutes later, Luke Breust would squander an opportunity for a five-goal lead as the first half wound to a close.
The Bulldogs would kick 12 of the next 13 goals, to lead by 43 points just 10 minutes into the final term. They swarmed to win the ball and exploded from the source in concentric circles, Jack Macrae having a career night and Caleb Daniel clamping down on 2012 Brownlow winner Sam Mitchell.
A 20-year-old Marcus Bontempelli held his ground under a high ball and sent Luke Hodge sprawling into the turf, and later stripped the Hawks skipper on his way to setting up the first goal of the last term. The team’s coronation would have to wait, but this was his.
3. 2016 Elimination Final v West Coast
Result: Western Bulldogs 99 - West Coast 52
Going into this game, the Bulldogs had never won a final interstate, and the Eagles hadn’t lost a home final in nine years. Jordan Roughead, Easton Wood, Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae each returned from injuries, while Jake Stringer was recalled after an uninspiring spell in the twos.
Two turnovers in defence saw West Coast build an early lead through Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling. The Dogs would kick the next seven. The Eagles were left shellshocked by the onslaught, pressured into poor decisions in their half - their entry conversion was down to 34% from a season average of 50 per cent - and they were ripped open both on the counter and from stoppages in their backline.
Jordan Roughead marked, hit the ground running and launched a goal from outside 50 as if he were Anthony Koutoufides. The understated Liam Picken out-marked two opponents, kicked the goal, roared and raised a fist at the Subiaco crowd. It was all beyond even Luke Beveridge’s wildest dreams.
2. 2016 Grand Final versus Sydney
Result: Western Bulldogs 89 - Sydney 67
It seems appropriate that the Dogs’ fairytale reached its apex against the team they conquered 18 months earlier, to instill the belief necessary for such a run.
The chatter in the lead-up was that the Dogs needed to withstand an early onslaught from the Swans’ on-ball brigade of Josh Kennedy, Luke Parker and Dan Hannebery. That would wait until the second term, as Kennedy kicked two of six Swans goals for the term.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they kicked five of their own and trailed by just two points. A scrappy third term ensued, and with a tick over seven minutes remaining the margin was a solitary point. Shane Biggs pushed the play into the Dogs’ forward 50 in a moment none of us will forget (get it?) and Liam Picken capped it off with a goal.
A goal to Jason Johannisen was overturned on review, and a familiar dread enveloped fans accustomed to heartbreak. Just moments later, Dale Morris ran down Lance Franklin, Tom Boyd gathered the loose ball and won the Grand Final.
1. 2016 Preliminary Final versus GWS Giants
Result: Western Bulldogs 89 - GWS Giants 83
Falling at the preliminary final stage seven times prior puts this one over and above for Dogs fans. It was also the best game of footy in 2016, and maybe of the modern era.
The Bulldogs swarmed and moved the ball swiftly, while the Giants picked them apart on the counter. Clay Smith kicked four in the first half, just days after a close friend passed, while Tory Dickson clamped down on Heath Shaw, and they helped their side to a nine-point half-time lead.
The third term belonged to Dylan Shiel and the Giants, and they built a 14-point lead early in the last. After Dickson kicked his fourth goal, Jason Johannisen parted the seas and found Marcus Bontempelli who paddled the ball up, regained the lead and thumped his heart in front of an overwhelmingly red, white and blue crowd.
With 40 seconds to go, the Dogs led by five but were pinned at half back. Josh Dunkley’s kick went over the back of a contest down the line, a chain of handballs ended with Jake Stringer, and the mercurial forward defied every fibre in his body to square to Tory Dickson. The game was over, and the curse broken.
