The good, the not so good, the exhilarating, the heartbreaking… we’ve taken a look at the Moments That Mattered during the AFL season.
From now until the full playing group returns for the start of pre-season on November 25, westernbulldogs.com.au will count down 19 moments that had a big impact in 2019.
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There were few better individual performances across the competition in 2019.
Josh Dunkley was dominant against the Dees in round 17.
He was the difference.
With the Bulldogs’ finals hopes on the line, Toby McLean hamstrung early in the contest and Marcus Bontempelli hobbled by an ankle knock, Dunkley had a profound impact as his side scraped home by just eight points.
He had 12 disposals in the first quarter, 22 at half-time… 39 in total, with 24 contested possessions.
Plus 15 tackles, nine clearances and five inside-50s.
And two goals.
The midfield bull won the ball and was equally impactful without it.
It was a performance that earned Dunkley three of his 15 Brownlow Medal votes for the season – on a big day for the Dunkley family, where Josh and brother Kyle were going head-to-head at AFL level for the first time.
Dunkley had a breakthrough 2019 campaign, and this was one of those performances that cemented him as one of the rising stars of the competition.
Counting down the 2019 Moments That Mattered…
#8 THE RETIREMENTS
#9 THE COMEBACK
#10 THE RE-SIGNINGS
#11 THE HEARTBREAK
#12 THE HANGER
#13 THE TENSE FINISH
#14 THE UPSET
#15 THE ALL AUSTRALIANS
#16 THE RISING STAR
#17 THE FIGHTBACK
#18 THE DEBUTANTS
#19 THE MIGHT OF THOR
