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The Western Bulldogs have racked up their second win for the season with a 71-point victory over Gold Coast SUNS at Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The 18.14 (122) to 7.9 (51) score line was obviously one-sided but the GC SUNS showed more spirit in their second AFL game and provided a contest, while the Dogs were sloppy and wasteful at times.
However, they will leave Melbourne worried about defender Campbell Brown, who faces scrutiny from the match review panel with a behind-the-play incident in the first quarter involving Callan Ward, and a dangerous head-high collision with Barry Hall in the second, sure to attract attention.
The Dogs took a little while to get going but split the game open in the second quarter with a three-goal contribution from Hall and a step up in clearance work prompting the breakaway.
Hall kicked five for the game, with his fourth in the third quarter marking his 700th career goal, Hall being only the 20th player in the game's history to reach the milestone.
Matthew Boyd was influential with 36 touches, Daniel Cross solid with 37 and Ryan Griffen important with 31 while Shaun Higgins recovered from a knock that left him vomiting on the sidelines to finish with 32.
After leading by 27 points at the first change, the Dogs motored away to a 45-point lead by half time. It increased again to 57 points by the final change.
At the start, the GC SUNS dominated in the clearances with young ruckman Zac Smith getting the better of Ben Hudson and Jordan Roughead.
The Dogs pegged things back in the second, and maintained that effort for the rest of the game, although Jared Brennan and David Swallow remained a force at the clearances.
Gary Ablett only went off twice and played a better game than last week despite wearing a heavy tag from Liam Picken and later Boyd.
Influential players
The Dogs were beaten 36 to 25 in the clearances but easily had more inside 50s; mainly orchestrated by Griffen. Last year's club best and fairest took the ball into attack 10 times – by far the most of any player on the ground.
Ablett and Swallow were key performers in the clearance stakes but it was ruckman Smith that got the ball to them. Without Josh Fraser and fellow youngster Daniel Gorringe for support, Smith did well to rack up 18 hit-outs against his experienced opponents.
What it means
For the Bulldogs, it means they get four points and their second win of the season. It also means they enter their first bye on a high, but how much they can actually take from the win against the emerging GC SUNS remains to be seen.
The outcome is slightly more positive for the GC SUNS. The result was much less dramatic than last Saturday night's 119-point loss to Carlton, and it indicated there was a certain degree of stage fright in the first game.
Dream Team highlight
Western Bulldogs – It became a battle between Higgins and Boyd to see who could top score for the Dogs this week, and after a spirited contest, it was the former who took the honours by one point with 126. Might be awhile before Boyd lets his younger teammate man the coin toss again.
Gold Coast SUNS – Only two GC SUNS found themselves with ones in front of their total at the game's end. It was familiar territory for Ablett (115 points) but coaches of Dion Prestia (104) will be rapt with his contribution.
Next four
Western Bulldogs – Bye, Fremantle, Collingwood, Sydney Swans
Gold Coast SUNS– Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Essendon, Brisbane Lions
What the coaches said
Rodney Eade
"We've got a bit of work to do. It was disappointing to be honest.
"The indicators are in a positive way but I just thought we were really scratchy again with our ball use, fumbly, and certainly our decision making [was not great] so we've got some work to do.
"We mucked around with it and we tried to be too short and cute, so I don't know what the right answer is to that.
"I thought generally the attitude was okay; it was just [that] execution was poor."
Guy McKenna
"The boys looked better for longer parts of the game playing together, so naturally that makes you feel a bit warmer inside, but it's a loss still. We're still disappointed and we have still lots to learn.
"But to lose the second half by 26 points again after getting the jump, it's certainly a more satisfying result, if you know what I mean."
Key match-ups
Rodney Eade said the Dogs would tag Ablett and he wasn't lying with Liam Picken heading straight for the Brownlow medallist. Ablett got on top of the tenacious Bulldog, which then saw him replaced by Boyd for a period in the second half. The club captain rose to the challenge, which briefly limited Ablett's effectiveness.
Magic moment
It might not have been magic but it certainly was nice. The GC SUNS banner fell apart before the cheer squad had a chance to pull it up shortly before the first bounce. After witnessing the panicked application of masking tape from afar, the more-experienced Bulldog banner crew walked over and helped rebuild the red and gold creation, which then held together long enough for the team to run through.
New faces
The GC SUNS had three players making their debut and all of them were notable at times. Gorringe took a contender for mark of the year over Brian Lake and Dale Morris in the second quarter, Michael Coad took 10 marks for the game and Maverick Weller had 12 touches and is now better known for his mother's pre-match confirmation on Triple M he was named after Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun, which was made in the year he was born.
Western Bulldogs 5.5 11.7 15.9 18.14 (122)
Gold Coast SUNS 1.2 4.4 6.6 7.9 (51)
GOALSWestern Bulldogs: Hall 5, Roughead 2, Hill 2, Cooney 2, Higgins, Ward, Picken, Hudson, Griffin, Sherman, Murphy
Gold Coast SUNS: Stanley 2, Gorringe, Smith, Bennell, Matera, Brennan
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Boyd, Cross, Griffen, Hall, Higgins, Murphy
Gold Coast SUNS: Ablett, Swallow, Smith, Brennan, Bennell, Rischitelli
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa (gastro), Hudson (ankle)
Gold Coast SUNS: Hunt (cramp), Prestia (cramp)
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Daniel Giansiracusa (concussion) replaced by Brennan Stack in the third quarter
Gold Coast SUNS: Nathan Krakouer replaced by Alik Magin in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Kennedy, Kamolins, Ryan
Official crowd: 21,373 at Etihad Stadium
