Western Bulldogs defender Taylor Duryea says he had luck on his side in the dying minutes of the semi-final against Brisbane on Saturday night.
With under a minute left on the clock late and the Bulldogs up by just a golden point, Duryea found himself in a 1v1 battle deep inside 50 with Lions’ speedster Charlie Cameron.
“It was not a position I wanted to find myself in, that’s for sure,” Duryea recalled of the moment.
“He’s just such an explosive player. His acceleration is probably the best in the competition really, for someone in that small forward position.
“I just told myself to keep my feet and make sure I was just there competing, and trying to contest him getting that ground ball.
“It’s one of those things where the ball probably didn’t bounce up for him either – a few things went my way.
“I’m just very thankful that he didn’t get his hands on it and run into an open goal – I don’t know whether I’d be able to live with myself if that happened.”
The thrilling one-point win meant the Bulldogs had booked themselves a preliminary final against Port Adelaide this Saturday night.
Duryea said dealing with Brisbane’s small forwards was a great “dress rehearsal” for what’s to come this weekend, but isn’t sure who’ll he’ll be sent to yet.
“(Port) has got a pretty good small forward mix as well – Brisbane has got a number of small forwards that are pretty dangerous, and that’ll be the same this weekend.
“You’ve got (Zak) Butters, (Connor) Rozee, Robbie Gray – I’m not sure if Orazio Fantasia will play, but just those guys alone plus (Steven) Motlop or any of the resting mids.
“Our hands are going to be pretty full this weekend, but that’s what you expect playing against a top quality side in a preliminary final.”
