Changkuoth Jiath, on the right, is tackled by Ed Richards. Credit: Getty Images
For long periods of play, the Dogs resembled the team that made such a deep run in last year’s finals. Their disputed play was powerful, allowing them to find holes in the Hawks ’defensive zone while protecting their defense.
Josh Dunkley backed up his 27 possessions with two goals. Quiet early, Marcus Bontempelli was important when the Dogs charged.
Naughton threw three goals, but the Dogs did not depend on him to score, with Josh Schache and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan providing effective flowers.
There were few positives for the Hawks after the quarterfinals, though the game should show them the importance of winning contested football. The count of balls was in his favor by 14, but at the end of the game he had turned the path of the Dogs by 19.
Mitch Lewis was influential in the first quarter, when he threw two of his four goals, and attacked the ball vigorously in the air. Ed Richards felt it directly, with a knee in the back of his head that caused him to be withdrawn from the game, presumably due to concussion protocols.
SON OF A GUN
Rhylee West has taken a big step forward in her fourth year of senior football. A front-line midfielder when he was a junior, Dogs legend Scott West’s son is cutting his teeth like a small striker and doing a good job of it.
Earlier this year, West had not won more than three games in a row, but is benefiting from having made a steady career there, as his father controversially claimed last year on social media.
West scored three more goals, improving his two against West Coast and Greater Western Sydney. The rights to brag, however, to the family still belong to his father, who threw six in his fifth game.
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The center of the Bulldogs ’field is stacked, so West will have to wait before his turn arrives in the engine room, but his intelligence within the 50s forward and his goal make him able to develop in the seniors instead of the VFL.
SHOOTING STAR
It’s no coincidence that the best period of the Hawks game came when Jai Newcombe was shooting in the first quarter. Newcombe was encouraged early on with his clean moves from the center putting the Dogs defense under enormous pressure.
Newcombe entered the halls during the first break and had little impact afterwards, as did his teammates. Seven of his 19 possessions came to the first term. The Rising Star favorite for much of this year, Newcombe has lost ground to Collingwood’s Nick Daicos and faces a daunting task to regain maximum turnover.