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WITH two minutes to play on Sunday afternoon, with the Dogs clinging to an eight-point lead in the steady rain, the Crows broke from the Dogs half-back line and ran aggressively forward.
The waterlogged ball was kicked hopefully forward where Crow Kurt Tippett and Bulldog Easton Wood waited.
It was a mismatch, but not in the way you might figure.
As the play that turned the match loomed, the 201-centimetre, 100-kilogram Tippett should have been able to out-manoeuvre the 185-centimetre, 82-kilogram Bulldog.
But the ball sailed into space, rather than to the contest, and the two protagonists ran onto it with Tippett better positioned to take possession and run into goal.
In the wet, the ball skidded and Wood was able to snake an arm in front of Tippett and punch the ball towards the boundary. The Crow forward then went to ground while a more-deft Wood kept his feet and was able to gather and send the ball back from whence it came for the last time for the match.
That effort and the fact that Jarrad Grant all but sealed the win by kicking the only goal of the quarter are indicative of how the Bulldogs are better this year.
With the top four decided after last weekend's games and with it being the same as the top four of last year it's worth noting that it is the Bulldogs and Collingwood that look the two different teams, where as last season Geelong and St Kilda were the best two sides.
This season has a different complexion because there is an evenness about the top four created by subtle yet fundamental change.
Collingwood and the Bulldogs are better for the players they have brought in. St Kilda has only really brought in one new player in Brett Peake whose added pace is obviated by his poor disposal.
The recruit that was supposed to do that infamously left the club before playing a game. Andrew Lovett is gone, but cannot be forgotten. His committal hearing on rape charges begins today and Saints players will be called.
The Bulldogs and Collingwood welcomed big ticket names Barry Hall, Darren Jolly and Luke Ball with both teams considerably better for their arrivals.
But lesser names have altered the complexion of the Dogs almost as much. Wood, for one, has become a regular after playing two games last year because of a reliability and maturity to his game.
Jarrad Grant played one game last year but with his height, pace and class it is unthinkable that he will not be a significant player in September.
Jordan Roughead only made his debut this year but he has in the space of six games made life tough for Will Minson's designs on second ruck. There is more versatility and athleticism to Roughead's game. The quandary for Rodney Eade is whether, in the heat of finals against the big bodies, he goes with superior young talent or superior older strength.
Brodie Moles has also less obviously added depth to the Dogs' midfield.
The waterlogged ball was kicked hopefully forward where Crow Kurt Tippett and Bulldog Easton Wood waited.
It was a mismatch, but not in the way you might figure.
As the play that turned the match loomed, the 201-centimetre, 100-kilogram Tippett should have been able to out-manoeuvre the 185-centimetre, 82-kilogram Bulldog.
But the ball sailed into space, rather than to the contest, and the two protagonists ran onto it with Tippett better positioned to take possession and run into goal.
In the wet, the ball skidded and Wood was able to snake an arm in front of Tippett and punch the ball towards the boundary. The Crow forward then went to ground while a more-deft Wood kept his feet and was able to gather and send the ball back from whence it came for the last time for the match.
That effort and the fact that Jarrad Grant all but sealed the win by kicking the only goal of the quarter are indicative of how the Bulldogs are better this year.
With the top four decided after last weekend's games and with it being the same as the top four of last year it's worth noting that it is the Bulldogs and Collingwood that look the two different teams, where as last season Geelong and St Kilda were the best two sides.
This season has a different complexion because there is an evenness about the top four created by subtle yet fundamental change.
Collingwood and the Bulldogs are better for the players they have brought in. St Kilda has only really brought in one new player in Brett Peake whose added pace is obviated by his poor disposal.
The recruit that was supposed to do that infamously left the club before playing a game. Andrew Lovett is gone, but cannot be forgotten. His committal hearing on rape charges begins today and Saints players will be called.
The Bulldogs and Collingwood welcomed big ticket names Barry Hall, Darren Jolly and Luke Ball with both teams considerably better for their arrivals.
But lesser names have altered the complexion of the Dogs almost as much. Wood, for one, has become a regular after playing two games last year because of a reliability and maturity to his game.
Jarrad Grant played one game last year but with his height, pace and class it is unthinkable that he will not be a significant player in September.
Jordan Roughead only made his debut this year but he has in the space of six games made life tough for Will Minson's designs on second ruck. There is more versatility and athleticism to Roughead's game. The quandary for Rodney Eade is whether, in the heat of finals against the big bodies, he goes with superior young talent or superior older strength.
Brodie Moles has also less obviously added depth to the Dogs' midfield.
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