For every weekend football isn’t played due to the suspension of the 2020 season, we’ll flash back to a past game against the same opponent, as a reminder of past Bulldog glories. Today, it’s the Gold Coast Suns.
Western Bulldogs fans have fond memories of playing football in the Queensland tropics.
In four trips to Cairns between 2014 and 2017, the Dogs registered four wins over the Gold Coast Suns.
But they got an almighty scare in one of those clashes, in Round 15 of the 2015 season at Cazaly’s Stadium.
The Bulldogs entered that match off the back of three straight wins, and in Luke Beveridge’s first year as senior coach, finals were in their sights.
The Suns, in contrast, had won just two of their 13 games and were already a spent force.
It didn’t show in the opening 30 minutes.
Gold Coast kicked five of the first six goals of the game to lead by 26 points, and that margin had been reduced to just 18 after a low-scoring second term.
By the final change, the Suns again led handsomely by 26, with the Dogs having registered just four goals in the first three quarters.
But as the game wore on, the Bulldogs found another gear.
Marcus Bontempelli’s goal at the start of the final stanza was cancelled out by Nick Malceski, but the Dogs booted nine of the next 10 goals to power to victory.
In the space of 24 minutes, the Bulldogs completed a 48-point turnaround.
Bontempelli secured the three Brownlow votes for his 28-possession (18 contested), two-goal performance, while Liam Picken was outstanding with 36 touches and nine tackles.
MATCH DETAILS
Western Bulldogs 1.1 3.3 4.9 14.11 (95)
Gold Coast Suns 5.3 6.3 9.5 11.7 (73)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Redpath 3, Bontempelli 2, Talia 2, Dahlhaus 2, Stringer 2, Macrae, Wallis, Dickson
Gold Coast Suns: Lynch 2, Matera 2, Hall 2, Ablett, Day, Dixon, Malceski, Rischitelli
LEADING DISPOSALS
Western Bulldogs: Picken 36, Macrae 33, Boyd 29, Bontempelli 28, Wallis 24, Dahlhaus 23
Gold Coast Suns: Ablett 30, Kolodjashnij 30, Rischitelli 21, Miller 21
