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AL PACINO once said: “There’s three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives. Either we yield as a team or we’re going to crumble, inch by inch, play by play to we’re finished. We’re in hell today.”
This was Any Given Saturday Afternoon.
CHAT LIVE WITH ROBBO BELOW FROM 11.45AM MONDAY (AEST)
Here’s the story. SCG. The boundary umpire has the ball in the Bulldogs’ forward pocket. The score is 76-73 Bulldogs. The rain is pouring and bodies are tiring.
03:00 to play
The ball is thrown in and Roughead and Pyke contest. The ball lobs to Bontempelli v Richards and Kennedy. The ball bounces off fingers and Bontempelli wins it. His hurried snap for goals is out on the full. Smith kicks across goal to Laidler who goes long to Parker in the middle.
Easton Wood spoils Parker and the ball rockets 25m to the right flank. “Massive,” says Jason Dunstall in commentary.
Macrae picks it up with Shaw and Richards desperate to stop him. Macrae throws it on his boot and Dickson contests the mark. The ball spills. Boyd tries to grab it and Laidler and Kennedy are on him.
Kennedy wins the ball, Picken lays the tackle on Kennedy. The ball spills. Picken lays a second tackle on Pyke. The ball spills. Roughead lays a tackle on Hannebery. The ball spills. Roughead lays a tackle on Kennedy. The ball spills. Picken lays a tackle on Laidler. The ball spills. Dunstall: “Great pressure from the Bulldogs.”
Dahlhaus pushes Pyke off the ball, Horvat picks it up and snaps a point. Score: 77-73 Bulldogs.
Easton Wood, Lin Jong and Jack Macrae enjoy the win.
Easton Wood, Lin Jong and Jack Macrae enjoy the win.
02:11 to play
Swans kick out long. Lin Jong spoils a Buddy mark and then Picken smothers a Hannebery kick. Roughead knocks it forward.
Picken is relentless. He goes head first into a 50-50 contest. The ball spills to Dickson. He handballs to Honeychurch, who lobs a kick to the goal square. Dahlhaus is flattened running with the flight of the ball. “Oooohhhh,’’ moans Mark Thompson.
Swans clear the ball to the middle of the ground. Roughead intercepts with a fist. The ball spills to Buddy. Stringer tackles Buddy. Dickson picks up the spillage and handballs inside to Macrae who kicks short to Clay Smith.
Laidler spoils the mark and Jetta and then Rampe go for the ball. Hrovat tackles Rampe, Bontempelli bumps Rampe, but Rampe kicks it forward. Easton Wood makes the spoil over Hannebery. Wood chases his own spoil on hands and knees and is tackled by Jack.
Wood knocks the ball forward with two Swans players on top of him. “That was magnificent,” says Anthony Hudson. Hrovat on his knees picks up the ball and handballs to Johannisen who kicks it blindly forward. “What a game,” says Mark Thompson.
00:56 to play
Rampe marks, plays on and kicks it to centre-half-forward. A desperate Jong dives two metres to touch Rampe’s kick off the boot and umpire calls play on.
Pyke marks the ball, but doesn’t hear the umpire. “It’s play on,” screams Thompson. Johannisen wraps both arms and one leg around Pyke. “It’s play on,” Thompson shrieks again. He’s not commentating, he’s cheering.
The ball spills and Franklin lunges forward with Macrae on is bum. Franklin loses the ball and Hrovat grabs it and breaks a Pyke tackle and kicks it to the forward pocket boundary line 65m away.
”’He kicks it for his life,” says Hudson. “What a great kick,” says an admiring Dunstall.
00:35 to play
Boundary umpire has the ball in the Bulldogs forward line. Macrae sharks the Ted Richards tap out.
His hurried kick goes 2m to Roughead who is tackled by Pyke. Roughead scrambles a handball which goes another metre forward. Richards picks up the ball and is tackled by Dickson.
Bodies fly everywhere, five of them are on the ground. Picken dives for the loose ball. Lying on his back he handballs from his chest and over his head. “This is an amazing effort,” says Dunstall.
Stringer takes the handball and scrubs a kick forward as Hannebery shirt-fronts him. “What a battle,” says Thompson.
Boyd meets the ball and it bumps off his chest. Bird slides in and knocks the ball to Lewis Jetta, who breaks a Clay Smith tackle and handballs to Nick Smith who kicks to an unmarked Jarrad McVeigh at half-back.
“This is possible,” bellows Hudson. “What a kick,” says Dunstall.
Clay Smith typifies the Bulldogs’ desperation.
Clay Smith typifies the Bulldogs’ desperation.
00:13 to play
McVeigh kicks a mongrel torp long into an open forward line. “The game’s a foot race,” says Thompson. “Chase, chase for your life,” squeals Hudson.
Wood leads the run down. 40m. 30m. 20m 10m. The ball spins on the slippery surface. Wood has Jake Lloyd behind him and Gary Rohan coming in from his right side. Boyd is behind Rohan and Johannisen is behind Lloyd.
Wood picks up the bouncing ball one-handed. Such confidence. Such execution. He’s tackled by Lloyd and Rohan. “It’s flashpoint, five seconds to go,” says Hudson.
Wood squeezes a handball back to Johannisen. It is a miracle play. Johannisen scoops the bouncing ball and is tackled by Lloyd and Luke Parker. He handballs to Boyd who is chased by Rohan ... and the siren sounds.
00:00 to play
Amazing scenes. Amazing effort. Bob Murphy has both fists clenched. He runs to the bench and joins Stevens, Crameri and Lukas Webb in a group hug. Smiles abound.
Murphy hugs Ayce Cordy who hoists Murphy from his feet. Hrovat, Bontempelli, Smith and Jong are hugging in the centre. They are delirious and exhausted.
“This is a massive victory for this football club,” says Thompson.
“This is a season-defining victory,” says Dunstall.
Bob Murphy is interviewed: “How can you not get emotional about footy,” he says, almost in tears. “It’s the best game ... it’s the best win I’ve ever been a part of.”
Al Pacino once said: “The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break in the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. In any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch.”
“That’s a team, gentlemen. That’s football guys.”
That was the Western Bulldogs Football Club.
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