Freo pressure too much for Dogs

Michael Walters starred with four goals for Fremantle. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Corp Australia

YOU can outrun Fremantle, you can get lucky against them, and you can even beat them with sustained individual brilliance.

But no one, repeat no one, out-pressures a Fremantle side coached by Ross the Boss.

Last night a Western Bulldogs side with the patterns and pressure of a young Geelong outfit on the rise did just that against a full strength Dockers outfit.

It was only the NAB Challenge, it only lasted for three quarters, and the Dockers still flexed their impressible muscles to effortlessly draw away.

And yet a side that for Brendan McCartney's first 30 games was so easy to play against brought the heat like never before.

When Lyon picks a side with 20 players from last year's Grand Final you know he is playing for keeps.

His Dockers spent three quarters absorbing the best the Dogs could dish out, then doled out some of their own tough love.

Still, it was hard not to love so much of what the Dogs did last night despite a 28-point loss.

Adam Cooney (26 possessions) rediscovered his afterburners, the Dogs led by 14 points at half time, and managed 24 shots (a wayward 9.15) against the miserly Dockers.

None of it meant as much as the swarming Dogs hunting in a pack against 2013 Grand Finalists Fremantle and for a time forcing them into turnover after turnover.

Midway through the second term Matthew Pavlich was surging into space with the deadly Michael Walters needing only to find him in space.

Less than 60 seconds later the Dogs had not only repelled that attacking thrust, they had forced the Dockers 120 metres backward by sheer pressure and numbers at the ball.

Scott Gumbleton was a dejected figure after hobbling to the bench late in the first term. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

Koby Stevens' refusal to give up the chase saw him rewarded with a goal from the boundary to cap the ultimate Bulldogs team goal.

And with Tom Liberatore being kept quiet by Ryan Crowley — building a reputation as one of the AFL's great all-time taggers - the kids and Cooney just kept stepping up.

Stevens, recruited as part of the Brian Lake deal, and Mitch Wallis (11 tackles), rediscovered as a tagger, joined Jackson Macrae (30 touches) as the best of the emerging pack.

When Luke Dalhaus fought tooth and nail to overcome two Dockers and set up Stewart Crameri with the simplest of shots, the Dogs should have led at three quarter time.

By then they had cracked 100 contested possessions to Fremantle's humble 72, as clear as any indicator of their willingness to crack in.

Crameri missed, and pretty soon the dam wall broke.

The clinical, battle-hardened Dockers just worked into the contest as a team with stars like Michael Barlow and David Mundy does on a weekly basis.

They would pour on seven consecutive goals, with the Dogs kicking 2.9 in the second half with Stewart Crameri quiet and inaccurate when he did find the ball.

Walters (four goals) got on the end of Fremantle's second half dominance, but it was Aaron Sandilands who controlled the air.

He was exceptional against All-Australian ruckman Will Minson, winning not just his usual tally of hit-outs (47, a dozen to advantage) but thrusting his hands high to mark around the ground.

So by game's end, Fremantle had an ideal tune-up for their season-opener against Collingwood in 16 days time and the Doggies were had their own substantial gains too.

WESTERN BULLDOGS: 0.2.3 (15) 0.7.6 (48) 0.8.10 (58) 0.9.15 (69)

FREMANTLE: 0.4.4 (28) 0.5.4 (34) 0.9.5 (59) 0.15.7 (97)

GOALS

WESTERN BULLDOGS: Giansiracusa 2, Stevens, Cooney, Dahlhaus, Hunter, Wood, Honeychurch, Crameri

FREMANTLE: Walters 4, Ballantyne 2, Pavlich 2, Mzungu 2, Barlow, Mayne, Sandilands, Mundy, Suban

BEST

WESTERN BULLDOGS: Stevens, Macrae, Cooney, Wallis, Boyd, Morris, Giansiracusa

FREMANTLE: Sandilands, Mundy, Barlow, Walters, Crowley, Johnson

NEW BOY

Jackson Macrae is in his second season, but he plays like a seasoned veteran. He kicks is beautifully, finds space effortlessly and doesn't mind putting his nose in the trough. The former pick 6 is a 200-game certainty who oozes class.

Mitch Honeychurch showed glimpses he could be a great value pick (selection 60 at last year's draft) for the Bulldogs. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia

HIGHLIGHTS REEL

Play of the day came from new Dog Mitch Honeychurch, who embodied the pressure applied to Fremantle when he harassed Paul Duffield so relentlessly the Docker retreated over the goal line.

The deliberately rushed behind was converted with a lovely left-foot banana.

WHITEBOARD

Tom Williams has waited nine years to become a key forward at the Dogs, and while the former defender eased into the action off the subs bench he did enough to show a position in attack might suit him best. The injury-cursed Williams is surprisingly fast, creating separation with his opponent.

After his recent injury woes, Tom Williams would have been happy just to get through unscathed. Picture: by Michael Dodge/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

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