2021, R05 WESTERN BULLDOGS vs NORTH MELBOURNE
It’s fair to say that in 2026, being a Western Bulldogs supporter hasn’t always been a relaxing experience. Twelve victories to date have brought great joy to fans, but half of those wins have been by six points or under.
Such close finishes make for much jubilation when the final siren sounds with the Dogs narrowly ahead, but the two hours leading up that euphoria can jangle the nerves.
Of course footy fans wouldn’t have it any other way, although an occasional big win provides nourishment to the soul too. The Bulldogs have had a couple such games this year – an 81-point thrashing of the Giants back in March, and a 57-point thumping of Richmond in Round 20.
This Thursday night, the Western Bulldogs will ‘host’ their co-tenants North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium. It will be the second meeting of the two sides on a Thursday night, the first coming only last year.
On that night, the Bulldogs overcame a first-quarter Kangaroos onslaught, in which North full forward Nick Larkey kicked four goals, to gradually take control of the match and eventually win by a comfortable 49-point margin.
Bulldogs fans would welcome a similar outcome this Thursday night, but they would also be happy if this week’s script more closely followed that of their Marvel Stadium encounter on Good Friday 2021. That match against North Melbourne is one many Dogs fans will remember fondly, and it’s one that Josh Bruce will no doubt never forget.
The Dogs had kicked off the 2021 season strongly, with wins over Collingwood and West Coast, and few expected their Round 3 opponents to provide too much of a challenge. However, given the circumstances of the match, the Bulldogs were wary.
Although the Roos had opened the year with two losses, the club was very keen to cement Good Friday as a marquee fixture on its calendar. The extra incentive would mean the Kangaroos would likely come out breathing fire.
And that’s exactly what they did. After Josh Bruce kicked an early goal for the Bulldogs, the Kangaroos dominated field play and territory over the next 10 minutes. Fortunately, the Doggies’ defence withstood the onslaught and that period of dominance for North yielded only one goal to Aaron Hall and two behinds for Tarryn Thomas.
The Bulldogs settled after that, with Aaron Naughton following Bruce’s second goal with his first. North pulled one back soon after that, but the Dogs closed out the quarter with a third goal to Bruce, taking a 12-point lead into the first break.
The early stages of the second term mimicked those of the first. Tim English kicked the Dogs off with an early goal, after which the Kangaroos held sway in terms of territory, but again their ascendency produced only one goal and two behinds. The Dogs proceeded to close out the quarter with a further 4.3 to lead by 38 points at the long break.
The Dogs were now scoring with ease, although the spread of goalkickers was widening. Bruce added just one for the quarter, and thoughts of a ‘big Bruce bag’ began to fade in the outer.
While the crowd may have put such thoughts aside, Bruce clearly had not. The Dogs came out full of running in the third quarter and found Bruce twice inside the forward 50. He converted both chances, and suddenly had six goals on the board with the third term only six minutes old.
Alas, Bruce did not add to his tally before three-quarter time, but his teammates continued the charge. Lachie McNeil, English, Adam Treloar and Josh Dunkley all added majors, giving the Bulldogs six for the quarter.
The Bulldogs headed into last quarter in a dominant position, leading by 74 points, 15.10.100 to 3.8.26. Victory was a formality, but Doggies’ fans were keen to see just how far the Bulldogs could stretch the margin – and if Bruce could add to his goal tally of six.
Bruce answered the second question first, opening the scoring for the final quarter with his seventh goal. Naughton followed up with his second before North finally managed their first goal of the second half at the eight-minute mark. They would kick their second at the 25-minute mark, but the term was otherwise dominated by the Dogs.
Marcus Bontempelli kicked the Bulldogs 18th goal at nine-minute mark, before Bruce added another two minutes later. With plenty of time in the last quarter left, a 10-goal haul for suddenly loomed as a real possibility.
However, although the Bulldog scoring barrage continued over the next quarter of an hour, the goals were not kicked by Bruce, but rather Bailey Dale, who kicked two in a row, and Anthony Scott.
With 29 minutes gone in the final term, the 10-goal dream appeared to be over. However, when Bruce marked and kicked his ninth with two minutes left on the clock, it was revived. The Bulldogs continued to attack relentlessly, and at the 31-minute mark they found Bruce again.
With every Bulldog in Marvel Stadium cheering him on, he calmly kicked another goal, his tenth for the match.
Incredibly, the Dogs had not finished piling on the goals. English closed out the match with his third, making it a 10-goal final quarter to go with Bruce’s 10-goal haul.
The stunning performance set a new club record for the Bulldogs. The 128-point margin was not only their biggest against North (the previous record of 92 points having been set in 1971) but their biggest ever, surpassing Footscray’s 120-point win against Melbourne in 1985.
Meanwhile Bruce’s effort was the first double-figure goal tally for a Bulldog since Simon Beasley’s bag of 10 against the Brisbane Bears at Carrara back in 1987.
In all, the match was a celebration of brilliant Bulldogs footy, turning Good Friday into a great Friday for all from Whitten Oval.
Round 5, 2021
Western Bulldogs 25.17.167 d West Coast 5.9.39
Goals: Bruce 10; Treloar, English 3; Naughton, Dale 2; Lipinski, McNeil, Dunkley, Bontempelli, Scott
Best: Bruce, Treloar, Dunkley, Smith, English, Macrae, Daniel, Liberatore, Wood
Brownlow Medal votes: Bruce 3, Treloar 2, Dunkley 1
