PLEASE remember the fifth of September. Cracker night came two months early for the Western Bulldogs as a ruthless Hawthorn blew their finals campaign to smithereens at the MCG last night.
Inspired by eight goals from Lance Franklin, the Hawks won by 51 points. Good as the Coleman medallist was at one end of the ground, Luke Hodge was almost as good at the other, not only chopping off attacks but also setting up counters with his run and use of the ball.
Not far behind these two was the captain, Sam Mitchell, who controlled the centre of the ground and, as a bonus, quelled one of the Bulldogs' midfield movers in Matthew Boyd. Jordan Lewis and Michael Osborne swept in off the wings, with Osborne pushing forward to score four goals as the Bulldogs' defence struggled to contain either talls or smalls.
The Bulldogs had few effective players. Will Minson battled hard in the ruck all night, Daniel Cross got plenty of the ball, Nathan Eagleton worked hard, Daniel Giansiracusa was the most effective, or least ineffective, forward. But so many of their prime movers either stalled or were denied room to use the ball effectively. Forwards Robert Murphy and Scott Welsh were hardly sighted, the former going to the back line for much of the game; Adam Cooney and Mitch Hahn were overwhelmed.
The Dogs were generally more competitive in the second half, even winning the final term four goals to three. But by that stage, the Hawks were waiting to see who they would play in the preliminary final, while the Bulldogs were wondering how to avoid bowing out in straight sets.
The Bulldogs were more competitive for most of the third quarter, but still wound up trailing by 58 points at the end of it. Jason Akermanis got their first goal of the quarter, then Josh Hill got two more.
It was a holding-back-the-tide job, however, as Hawthorn added five goals to the Bulldogs' three.
Hodge was having a tremendous night from deep in defence. He cut out the high balls, read the passes coming in much quicker than his opponents and generally enjoyed himself. At one point, he charged out to intercept a high kick, swung the ball out to his right when he spotted Shane Crawford unmarked on the wing and the Hawks went forward for Franklin to kick his sixth goal. "Buddy" made it look easy, finding time to get boot to ball among three defenders, but no easier than Hodge had made it look in setting up the play.
Hawthorn led by 44 points at half-time.
So dominant had the Hawks been that they had amassed 22 scoring shots to eight. Beaten in the clearances when these teams met in round 10, they had won those 18-10, and this despite being on the wrong end of the hitouts, 15-9.
Making things worse, the Bulldogs' four goals had come in two two-minute bursts midway through either quarter.
Franklin had five goals to that stage, the pick of them a mark on 50 followed by a turn inboard onto the favoured left foot and a casual-looking swipe of a kick that put the ball through at mid-post height. His personal score looked respectable at five goals straight, but it was saved by the fact that whenever he missed, he missed the lot.
Franklin had also conceded three 50-metre penalties at kick-ins. One when he shoved Ryan Hargrave to the ground as Brian Lake prepared to bring the ball back into play, the the other two as he interfered with Lake after the Bulldog full-back had conceded rushed behinds. On the first occasion, Franklin pushed Lake in the chest with sufficient force to send him to the ground, which might make an interesting scenario for the match review panel, given that he had no right to make any contact at all.
Three goals late in the first quarter had allowed the Hawks to slip away to a 16-point lead. It took eight minutes to get a goal, Jarryd Roughead finally kicking accurately after Mitchell got the ball to Brent Guerra, who passed to the full-forward.
The Bulldogs had hardly been inside attacking 50 to that point. Now they got two goals in not much more than a minute. Brad Johnson marked 30 metres out on an angle and Lewis made a potentially tight kick a "soda" by dropping his knees into him and conceding a 50-metre penalty.
Then Jarrod Harbrow ran down Campbell Brown in a tackle, the ball spilled free and it went forward to Giansiracusa for another.
Franklin now exerted his first influence on the game. He stood tall as the ball came into a forward contest, allowed Dale Morris to commit to a spoil, then gathered the ball at ground level to snap truly.
Minutes later, he took a handball from Mark Williams, then somehow got boot to ball as it spilled free after Hargrave tackled him. Then Brown atoned for his earlier error by running forward to mark and kick the Hawks' fourth.
Hawthorn made one late change, Stephen Gilham falling victim to a virus. His place went to Cameron Stokes. FAST FOOTY HAWTHORN
4.5 10.12 15.17 18.19 (127) W BULLDOGS
2.1 4.4 7.7 11.10 (76) Franklin 8, Osborne 4, Roughead 3, Crawford, Brown, Lewis.
GOALS
Hawthorn:
Western Bulldogs: Akermanis 3, Hill 2, Cooney 2, Giansiracusa 2, Johnson, Griffin.
BEST Franklin, Mitchell, Hodge, Osborne, Lewis, Sewell.
Hawthorn:
Western Bulldogs: Cross, Giansiracusa, Minson, Lake, Hill.
THE UPSHOT Hawthorn's 51-point win gives the players a week off before gearing up for the club's first preliminary final since 2001. The Western Bulldogs' horror run, which now stretches to six losses from the past eight games, puts them in a do-or-die semi-final next weekend with the winner of tonight's Sydney-North Melbourne elimination final.
TALKING POINT How far can these high-flying Hawks go? Skipper and midfield general Sam Mitchell, hard nuts Jordan Lewis, Campbell Brown, Brad Sewell and Luke Hodge all switched into finals mode last night and out-muscled the opposition, while up forward Lance Franklin, Michael Osborne and Jarryd Roughead were primed and desperate to push deep into September.
HOT AND COLD Six days after winning the Coleman Medal, Franklin stepped up another gear, kicking five goals before half-time and finishing the match with eight. His fourth goal midway through the second term, after playing on and drilling the ball from outside the 50-metre arc, was never in doubt. Influential Bulldogs ruckman Ben Hudson went into the game under an injury cloud and had little impact.
UMPIRES Donlon, Rosebury, Ryan.
CROWD 76,703 at the MCG.
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