AFL Round 10

Western Bulldogs v Essendon
Saturday 17 May | 7:35pm AEST
Marvel Stadium, Docklands • Wurundjeri
Broadcast: Kayo/Foxtel

Tickets: Purchase Here

NEED HELP ON MATCH DAY? 

The Bulldogs’ membership team will be at the match-day pavilion near Gate 1 (Barkly Street end). 

To contact us before match day:

• 📆 Monday – Friday, 10 AM – 4 PM
• 📧 membership@westernbulldogs.com.au
• 📞 1300 46 36 47

The Western Bulldogs have made three changes ahead of Saturday’s Elimination Final against Fremantle at Optus Stadium.

Bulldogs utility Toby McLean will make a triumphant return to the starting line-up for the final, coming into the 22 for the first time since Round 16 last year.

The 26-year-old, fresh off signing a new one-year contract extension, has fully recovered from an ACL reconstruction and performed strongly in the VFL over the past month.

Jason Johannisen returns from an ankle injury to take his place in the forward line, while Alex Keath bolsters the defensive stocks.

Veteran Taylor Duryea will miss the clash due to personal reasons, with the 31-year-old to remain in Melbourne awaiting the imminent birth of his first child. 

Tom Liberatore won’t make the trip to Perth after injuring his hamstring during training last week.

Forward Josh Bruce has been omitted.

Key forward Aaron Naughton will celebrate his 100^th match in his hometown, tallying 147 goals throughout his first five years in the game.

Stefan Martin, Josh Bruce, Robbie McComb and Taylor Duryea have been listed as emergencies.

One of the four will be confirmed as this week’s medical substitute an hour before the first bounce.

The match will be broadcast live on Channel 7, Fox Footy and Kayo Sports, with the opening bounce at Optus Stadium set for 8.10pm AEST.

ELIMINATION FINAL TEAM 

Fremantle v Western Bulldogs
Saturday 3 September, 8.10pm AEST
Optus Stadium

B: Ed Richards, Ryan Gardner, Zaine Cordy
HB: Bailey Williams, Alex Keath, Bailey Dale
C: Lachie Hunter, Josh Dunkley, Jack Macrae
HF: Adam Treloar, Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Jason Johannisen
F: Cody Weightman, Aaron Naughton, Sam Darcy
R: Tim English, Marcus Bontempelli, Bailey Smith
Int: Laith Vandermeer, Caleb Daniel, Toby McLean, Roarke Smith
Emer: Stef Martin, Josh Bruce, Robbie McComb, Taylor Duryea

In: Alex Keath, Jason Johannisen, Toby McLean
Out: Josh Bruce (omitted), Tom Liberatore (hamstring), Taylor Duryea (personal reasons), Robbie McComb (medi-sub)

The Western Bulldogs’ season has come to a halt in disappointing fashion, falling to the Fremantle Dockers in the Elimination Final by 13 points at Optus Stadium.

The Bulldogs shot out to a 41-point lead late in the second term, which was built in a brilliant display in the first 50 minutes of the game.

But a 10-minute burst from Fremantle leading into half time, which netted four goals, brought the home side back into the contest and ultimately paved the way for an eventual 54-point swing.

The Dogs still held a 15-point lead at the main break, and edged further ahead with the first major of the third stanza, but the Dockers kicked the next three to reduce the margin to six points at three-quarter time.

The visitors were unable to halt the momentum as the raucous Perth crowd found its full voice, with Fremantle booting the first three majors of the final term to effectively kill the contest.

Roarke Smith offered a moment of resistance with a huge grab and set shot goal midway through the quarter to bring the margin back to five points, but Nathan O’Driscoll converted a set shot from the boundary shortly after and the Dockers held on.

Despite the loss, the Bulldogs had plenty of winners across the park, particularly in the midfield through Marcus Bontempelli (30 disposals, two goals and seven tackles), Jack Macrae (34 possessions) Josh Dunkley (23 touches and 14 tackles) and Adam Treloar (26 disposals).

Ryan Gardner was impressive in defence, along with Caleb Daniel (29 possessions and seven rebound 50s), while Toby McLean made a triumphant return to senior football with 21 disposals.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough to keep the Bulldogs’ season alive into week two of the 2022 finals.

MATCH DETAILS
FREMANTLE                       0.1      4.3      7.5      11.7 (73)
WESTERN BULLDOGS       5.5      6.6      7.11     8.12 (60)

GOALS
FREMANTLE:  Walters 3, Lobb 2, Amiss 2, Brayshaw, Serong, Logue, O’Driscoll
WESTERN BULLDOGS:  Bontempelli 2, Johannisen 2, Darcy, Weightman, Dunkley, R Smith

BEST
Fremantle: Serong, Brayshaw, Walters, Young, Ryan, Clark, Darcy
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Macrae, Gardner, Dunkley, Treloar, Daniel, McLean

INJURIES
Fremantle: O'Driscoll (left ankle)
Western Bulldogs: Johannisen (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Fremantle: Bailey Banfield (unused)
Western Bulldogs: Robbie McComb (replaced Jason Johannisen in the fourth quarter)

Crowd: 58,982 at Optus Stadium