Western Bulldogs claim 44-point win





Western Bulldogs premiership hero Liam Picken expects Marley Williams to face the wrath of the match review system after his high bump on Ed Richards which sent the young Bulldog to hospital.

Williams crashed into Richards in the goalsquare during the second quarter.

In answer to a question on social media about whether Williams had a case to answer, Picken tweeted: “Yes. We need to protect players’ brains. Hope Ed recovers quickly.”

One of the stars of the Dogs’ fairytale 2016 finals series, Picken was forced to retire from the game at the start of 2019 after suffering ongoing concussion issues.

Collingwood premiership player and Herald Sun football analyst Mick McGuane agreed with Picken’s assessment, saying: “Spot on Liam. If a player elects to bump and you hit an opponent’s head and the contact is with force you will pay the penalty of a suspension.

“I don’t think Williams intentionally did it but was careless in his approach.”

Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw said he hadn’t seen the incident.

“I think we will just leave that to the AFL and hopefully it is a good result for us.”

But he was disappointed with the discipline of his young team, especially in the number of free kicks they gave away — 30 to 19.

“We want to make sure we are a team that is hard at the ball, hard and fair,” Shaw said.

“We showed signs of that last year, especially in the back half. I thought we were one of the hardest teams in the comp.

“We did it the right way and tonight we probably got a bit loose in our discipline in that area. We will address that.”

DOGS FIND ANOTHER YOUNG GUN

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has form at finding key forwards in pre-season matches.

Against St Kilda in Ballarat last March, Beveridge surprisingly threw second-year defender Aaron Naughton into attack. Naughton kicked three goals and earnt himself a spot in the forward line for the rest of the year.

On Friday night against North Melbourne, Naughton was missing after succumbing to a knee injury during the week which has him in doubt for the early part of the home-and-away season.

Enter Lewis Young.

A key forward as a junior, Young had played as a defender across his first three years at Whitten Oval and had not kicked a goal at AFL level.

The 21-year-old had trained with the defensive group again all summer, but Naughton’s late omission — coupled with recruit Josh Bruce’s back soreness — left a vacant spot up forward and Young grabbed it.

He kicked two goals in the first quarter but could have easily had three. By halftime, Young did have three majors.

While he might have gone goalless after that, the 197cm big man showed his versatility pinch-hitting in the ruck and taking some strong marks in defence.

He might not be the next Naughton, but Young certainly provided some food-for-thought for Beveridge and the Bulldogs’ coaches ahead of Round 1.

BRILLIANT BONT

New Year, same Marcus Bontempelli.

The newly-appointed Western Bulldogs captain was a class above, making it look like a Round 10 hitout rather than his first run of the season.

Fresh off a third club best-and-fairest in 2019, Bontempelli had 19 disposals in the opening half on his way to 37 touches for the match.

Bontempelli also finished with 10 clearances – the most on the ground — and kicked two goals during brief stints forward.

It was not just what he did with ball in hand, though, the skipper leading by example and also laying eight tackles.

At $15, Bontempelli does not look bad value in the TAB Brownlow Medal market.

THE RECRUITS

The Kangaroos unveiled two trade acquisitions from last October in Aiden Bonar and Josh Walker, who were both solid.

Pick 11 in the 2017 national draft, former GWS onballer Bonar logged 15 disposals playing a mix of midfield and forward.

Former Brisbane defender Walker racked up 14 disposals and took 10 marks in a defence that was missing its general in Robbie Tarrant (foot).

Former Adelaide backman Alex Keath had his first hitout for the Bulldogs and did some nice things after a slow start.

Some impressive intercept marks were the highlight for Keath in a 16-disposal and nine-mark performance.

BEST

Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Hunter, Young, Macrae, Dunkley, Crozier, Schache

North Melbourne: Simpkin, Cunnington, Walker, Goldstein, Anderson, Dumont, Thomas