Coach Luke Beveridge has lauded the resilience of his players after the Western Bulldogs rebounded superbly for a crucial AFL upset win over Carlton.
Stung by last weekend’s horrible away loss to Port Adelaide, the Bulldogs had a solid spread of contributors in the Saturday twilight game at Marvel Stadium and won 14.16 (100) to 12.14 (86).
It keeps the Dogs in the top-eight conversation ahead of next week’s massive clash in Geelong against the Cats, while it is the second game in a row where the Blues have been found wanting against opponents desperate for a big scalp.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was best afield and kicked four goals, as did Rhylee West, while Beveridge heaped praise on Bailey Dale for his game off half-back.
In his 200th game, Blues captain Patrick Cripps did everything he could to put the team on his back and carry Carlton home in the final term.
But the Blues could never quite catch the Bulldogs after giving up the lead through the middle of the game.
Crucially, the Bulldogs kicked four goals to one from centre bounces, which proved the difference.
“We’re pretty moved by that one – obviously coming out of last week, when you can throw up all adjectives to describe what it was and what it wasn’t,” Beveridge said.
‘You don’t want the extreme that we saw last week, where we really troughed. We don’t want that outlier.
“It’s a big one for us in the scheme of the season and everything hangs in the balance, you make your choices.”
Asked about next week, Beveridge smiled ruefully and said: “They don’t shrink, the challenges.”
Carlton either matched the Bulldogs overall in terms of statistics, or were in front in several categories.
But they lost the inside-50s badly 20-10 in the third term. Also, coach Michael Voss said efficiency was an issue in the midfield, where Cripps was a rare shining light for the Blues.
“It never felt like we were in a position to win it – they kept us at bay for most of the game,” Voss said.
“Every time we closed, they got an easy one back.
“It was an efficiency question. The numbers were quite even … it also says in the numbers that they kicked four goals from centre-square bounces.”
Asked if alarm bells are ringing at Carlton after two upset losses, Voss was emphatic that they are not – but he added they clearly need to reset.
“We look over the course of 23 games – we also respect the competition. It’s marginal,” he said.
Carlton key forwards Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay had their moments, kicking three goals apiece, but Curnow also sprayed 3.7 and McKay had one disposal after half-time.
Bulldogs defenders Rory Lobb and Buku Khamis were outstanding.
Indeed, a Bulldogs player could consider himself hard-done-by if not mentioned in Beveridge’s post-game media conference, with the coach keen to praise all of them.
Significantly, for all of Cripps’ valour, his Bulldogs counterpart Marcus Bontempelli was solid without proving the difference – as he so often does when the Dogs win.
The Bulldogs were in big trouble early, spraying 0.7 for the first term, but Beveridge said the players stuck to their guns and steadily put the game on their terms.
Bulldogs midfielder Adam Treloar was a late withdrawal with calf tightness, while Carlton’s Zac Williams was forced out of the game in the second term with a hamstring injury.