The Western Bulldogs have now strung together two wins on the trot after holding on to run out nine point winners over the Gold Coast Suns at Mars Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
If there was any doubt that Ballarat was a Bulldogs town, that was quashed early as the vocal crowd of almost seven thousand rode every bump and jeered every Suns free kick, as the home team fought back to snatch a critical win after the visitors led at every change.
Jack Macrae put on a masterclass and continued his dominance of Mars Stadium, submitting his second straight 40 touch performance and keept the stats box busy elsewhere with five marks, 12 clearances, seven tackles and six inside 50s.
It was the kind of game that will do nothing to halt the ‘State of the Game’ debate, but an electrifying six-minute burst from the Dogs in the second quarter sparked by a move of Jason Johannisen forward would have kept the purists happy.
Johannisen was in everything as Billy Gowers (two goals), Patrick Lipinski (two goals) and Johannisen (18 disposals, five i50s) himself helped turn a 17-point deficit into a six-point lead and gave the faithful, who up to then had been focused on a lop-sided free kick count, something to cheer about.
The final term was a tight, tense contest, and despite dominating all the key stats the Dogs couldn’t quite shake the visitors, who got within five at the 23 minute mark, before a string of Bulldogs behinds set the final margin.
Lachie Hunter (34 disposals, nine marks, seven inside 50s) was captain for the day after Marcus Bontempelli was a late withdrawl and was one of the Dogs best while midfield mate Toby McLean (34 touches at 84%, 13 tackles) was again influential, while at the other end of the ground Aaron Naughton and Bailey Williams were solid contributors.
The Dogs return to Etihad Stadium next weekend to face Brisbance under lights on Saturday night.
Western Bulldogs 1.2 5.5 8.7 11.15 (81)
Gold Coast Suns 2.6 5.9 8.10 10.12. (72)
BEST: Macrae, Hunter, McLean, Naughton, Williams, Dahlhaus
DISPOSALS: Macrae 40, Hunter 34, Dahlhaus, McLean 31, Daniel 25
GOALS: Gowers, Lipinski 2, English, Jong, Johannisen, Honeychurch, Williams, Dunkley, Macrae
