The Western Bulldogs have been overrun by Carlton by 16 points in a fierce Saturday afternoon contest at IKON Park.

The Bulldogs snatched the lead midway through the second quarter, before the hosts stormed home 7.7. (49) to 4.9 (33) winners. 

Although the Western Bulldogs dominated territory early, it was Carlton’s Sophie McKay who opened the scoring in the sixth minute. The father-daughter selection was caught high while attempting a mark, before converting from directly in front.

The Western Bulldogs looked more dangerous in attack for most of the first quarter but were unable to make it count. 

Ellie Blackburn, playing her 75th career game, found space inside 50 early in the second quarter and was rewarded, with Jasmyn Smith hitting the vice-captain with a short pass. Blackburn drilled the long-range shot to give the visitors their first goal for the day.

00:56

AFLW R4 | Electric Ellie's shining moment

Ellie Blackburn takes off and nails a slick running finish in her 75th game and she celebrates in style

Alice Edmonds, the other Bulldog celebrating a milestone today in her 50th game, slotted her first for the day five minutes later after taking another strong mark inside 50. At that point the Bulldogs had taken five marks inside 50 to Carlton’s one – an impressive return given they had averaged three per game prior to their round four clash.

Both teams had their opportunities to score in the third quarter but struggled to find targets. The Western Bulldogs had six inside 50s but could only generate three behinds. The Blues goaled through Lily Goss, who was left unmarked after Keeley Skepper was pushed in the back.

Harrington almost extended Carlton’s lead after collecting a loose ball in the centre square and streaming forward, but some outstanding defensive pressure from Issy Grant prevented the two-time best and fairest from scoring. However, the Blues ruck couldn’t be stopped in the dying stages of the third quarter, goaling after taking a strong contested pack mark. 

01:36

De Berry | "Just grateful to be out there playing footy"

Captain Deanna Berry reflects on her return in the loss to Carlton.

Bulldogs skipper De Berry, back for her first game in 2025 after missing the previous three rounds with a hamstring injury, got the visitors off to the perfect start in the last quarter. Berry, playing behind Cordner, had the ball bounce directly into their hands after it stayed unexpectedly low before turning and snapping on her right.

The home side’s class came through when it mattered, with goals to Irishwoman Erone Fitzpatrick and reigning club best-and-fairest Keeley Sherar in the fourth quarter enough to secure the Blues their third win of the season.

03:23

Tam Hyett | Post Match (R4)

AFLW Senior Coach Tam Hyett spoke to the media following the clash with Carlton.

Milestone dogs deliver the goods
Ellie Blackburn has earned just about every accolade a player can earn – including five best and fairests and three All-Australians – but added another one to her name when she slotted her 30th career goal with a long bomb early in the second quarter. Blackburn is now the outright all-time leading goalkicker for the red, white, and blue, breaking the tie with former teammate Bonnie Toogood. Blackburn finished with 14 disposals, five tackles, and 238m gained. 50-gamer Alice Edmonds also performed strongly, with 28 hitouts, 10 disposals, and a goal of her own.

Blues better around the ball
The Western Bulldogs had performed slightly better than Carlton over the first three weeks with respect to hitouts (averaging 33.7 versus 31.0) and clearances (26.0 versus 22.7); a trend that continued as the Daughters of the West clearly won the hitouts (29-15) and centre clearances (9-5). But Carlton turned this on its head around the ground, with finishing +7 in stoppage clearances and +3 in clearances overall. 

Up next
Carlton will be aiming to continue its climb up the ladder when it welcomes Gold Coast to Ikon Park next Saturday at 2.35pm. The Western Bulldogs are also back in action next Saturday, travelling to Canberra to play winless Greater Western Sydney at the Corroboree Group Oval from 4.35pm.

CARLTON                               1.2          3.3          5.5          7.7 (49)
WESTERN BULLDOGS           0.2          2.5          2.8          4.9 (33)

GOALS
Carlton: S.McKay 2, Guerin, Goss, Harrington, Fitzpatrick, Sherar
Western Bulldogs: Blackburn, Edmonds, Berry, Pritchard

BEST
Carlton: Finn, A.McKay, S.McKay, Fitzpatrick, Goss
Western Bulldogs: Pritchard, Gutknecht, Fitzgerald, Georgostathis

INJURIES
Carlton: Duursma (collarbone), Hill (knee)
Western Bulldogs: Nil

Reports: Nil

Crowd: TBC at IKON Park