This Sunday night’s match against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium will be the 32nd meeting of the Bulldogs and the Saints at the venue. The home ground for both clubs has delivered some memorable clashes, right from the very first one in May 2000.
Both sides came into that first clash at what was then known as Colonial Stadium on the back of a poor run of form. After starting the season off well, winning three of their first four games, the Dogs had lost four in a row and sat outside the eight. St Kilda had not won a match at all, with a draw against West Coast in Round 3 their best result.
Eager to get turn their seasons around, the teams went blow for blow in the first half, with the Bulldogs narrowly ahead at the long break. After half time the Saints came out firing, stunning the Dogs with an eight-goal-to-one third term to deliver what seemed to be a knockout blow.
However, trailing by 31 points heading into the final quarter Terry Wallace’s men climbed off the canvas and began to hit the scoreboard. They closed the gap to just seven points before St Kilda steadied through a goal from Peter Everitt, but that proved to be the Saints’ only score of the quarter. A behind to the Doggies soon after reduced to margin to an even two goals.
With time running out, the Bulldogs needed someone to step up – and Chris Grant did just that. Consecutive goals to the star, who had had a relatively quiet night to that point, levelled the scores and brought fans of both sides to fever pitch.
Grant wasn’t done yet. From the centre bounce he marked a bullet pass from José Romero inside 50 and although his shot missed to the left it gave the Dogs a one-point lead with 96 seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs defended grimly for that final minute and a half, holding on to record a win for the ages.
The Bulldogs have recorded several other come-from-behind wins against the Saints at Marvel Stadium since then. Perhaps the best of those came in April 2008 when the Dogs were blown away in the opening quarter, a seven-goal burst giving St Kilda a 37-point lead at the first change.
The Dogs responded to that burst (which was presumably followed by a verbal one from coach Rodney Eade) in the most emphatic fashion. With Adam Cooney (who would go on to win that year’s Brownlow Medal) starring, the Bulldogs cut the deficit to 18 points at half time, edged to a seven-point lead at the final break, and finished off with a burst of their own, an eight-goal last quarter giving them a 38-point win. After their sluggish start, the Bulldogs had dominated, kicking 18.9 to the Saints’ 6.6 over the final three quarters – an amazing 75-point turnaround.
Another mighty comeback came in 2018, when a goalless first term left the Dogs 21 points behind the Saints at quarter time. Having closed the gap to just two points at the long break the Bulldogs exploded in the third term, an eight-goal-to-nil quarter giving them a 45-point lead. The Dogs then cruised to a 35-point win on the back of what had been an 11-goal turnaround in just two quarters from Bevo’s Bulldogs. Jason Johannisen (42 disposals) and Marcus Bontempelli (22 touches and four goals) were the stars of that show.
The Bont shone again three years later when the Bulldogs recorded their biggest ever win over the Saints. With another bag of four goals and 26 possessions, Bontempelli led the Dogs to 111-point thrashing of their co-tenants, with Aaron Naughton (five goals), Jack Macrae (41 disposals) and Bailey Dale (34 touches and two goals) joining the party.
In the 31 games played to date between the two teams at Marvel Stadium the Western Bulldogs have won 14 times to the Saints 15, with one draw (in 2007). With Bontempelli a strong chance to return for his first game for 2025, the Doggies will be looking to square the head-to head as well as the season ledger on Sunday night.
