THERE were some encouraging signs for the Western Bulldogs despitea 26-point point loss to the Kangaroos at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
The Doggies finished on the wrong end of the 11.19 (85) to17.9 (111) scoreline.
Importantly, veteran Chris Grant made it through his firstgame of the year unscathed.
He started in defence in what was a tough task against anin-form Drew Petrie, but was soon moved up forward.
Grant, Brian Harris and Tom Williams rotated off Petrie whofinished with seven goals, six of which came in the first term.
Matthew Boyd was the Bulldogs’ best out of the middle andfinished the day with a career-high 30 touches.
Daniel Giansiracusa was dangerous around the ground,finishing with three goals and a season-high 27 possessions.
Dale Morris also shut down dangerous Kangaroo Shannon Grant,who had minimal impact on the match.
Teenager Shaun Higgins was another shining light for theBulldogs, his pace and accurate kicking in general play standing out.
The Bulldogs were swamped in the first quarter as theKangaroos booting eight goals to four in the first term.
The Dogs slightly improved in the second term and went in tothe half-time break 34 points down.
Sam Power improved as the game went on but was inaccurate,with two easy misses when his side looked a chance of getting back in the gamemid-way through the second quarter.
Brad Johnson emerged from a slow start to slot through twogoals in the second quarter, including a miraculous snap over his head from thegoal line.
It was a tight tussle in the third term and the Bulldogs wereunable to reduce the deficit as the rain started to fall.
The Bulldogs could only manage two goals in the wetconditions.
The deficit at the final break was 35 points, and while awin was virtually impossible, the Bulldogs’ spirit was not dampened.
Giansiracusa booted his third goal in the opening minutes ofthe final quarter and was followed soon after by Johnson.
The Kangaroos have now pushed the Dogs out of the eight and theDogs have a tough month ahead with Port Adelaide, Geelong, West Coast and St Kilda to come.
It promises to be a stronger Bulldog side that embarks onthe run home when Robert Murphy and Nathan Eagleton return over the comingweeks.
KANGAROOS 8.2 12.5 15.6 17.9 (111)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.4 6.7 8.13 11.19 (85)
Goals
Kangaroos: D Petrie 7 C Jones 2 B Harvey 2 S McMahon 2 B Rawlings D Wells J Sinclair L Brown
Western Bulldogs: B Johnson 3 D Giansiracusa 3 F Ray C Grant L Gilbee M Hahn S Higgins
Best
Kangaroos: D Petrie B Harvey H McIntosh C Jones B Rawlings A Simpson
Western Bulldogs: D Giansiracusa B Johnson M Boyd A Cooney J Akermanis J McMahon
Injuries
Kangaroos: Nil
Western Bulldogs: T Williams (ankle) M Lynch (ankle)
Reports: Nil
Umpires: M Vozzo L Farmer S Wenn
Official crowd: 39,433 at the MCG
