THE WESTERN Bulldogs have continued their charge towards the finals by scoring a 71-point victory over North Melbourne in a rugged clash at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

As Prime Minister Julia Gillard watched from the stands, the Dogs piled on nine goals to two in the final term to win 22.11 (143) to 10.12 (72).

Barry Hall finished with seven majors, and is now level with Richmond’s Jack Riewoldt in the race for the Coleman Medal. Both have booted 65 for the season.

Also playing deep in attack for much of the afternoon, Daniel Giansiracusa chipped in with five goals, while Matthew Boyd (40 possessions) and Adam Cooney (28 touches) were outstanding in the midfield.

The Bulldogs also achieved a statistic of note by notching up 157 rotations, breaking the previous record of 156, which was set by Hawthorn earlier in the season and again last weekend.

Leigh Adams, Brent Harvey and Sam Wright were among North Melbourne’s best players.
 
Wright booted two goals early in a very physical opening quarter, but thanks to a pair of majors from Hall - who began on Scott Thompson and was later picked up by Josh Smith - the Dogs were 17 points clear by the first change.

A terrible turnover from Easton Wood and a huge tackle by Thompson on Hall helped the Kangaroos narrow the margin to five points in the opening stages of the second quarter.
 
But although the Bulldogs weren’t at their best, they were good enough to keep their noses in front at half-time.

Despite losing Griffen for around 10 minutes of the third quarter, after he was accidentally flattened by teammate Daniel Cross, the Dogs extended their advantage to 29 points at the last break.

The final term was a low intensity affair, as Rodney Eade’s men maintained their place in the top four by cruising to their 12th victory of the season.

The Bulldogs travel to Adelaide next weekend for a Sunday twilight meeting with the Crows.

North Melbourne takes on Fremantle at Etihad Stadium next Saturday afternoon.

Western Bulldogs    6.2     9.3   13.7    22.11 (143)
North Melbourne     3.3     6.6   8.8      10.12 (72)

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Hall 7, Giansiracusa 5, Griffen 3, Higgins, Johnson, Higgins, Grant, Wood, Jones, Moles
North Melbourne: Harvey 3, Wright 2, Adams 2, McIntosh, Hansen, Edwards

BEST
Western Bulldogs: Boyd, Morris, Cooney, Griffen, Hall, Williams, Picken
North Melbourne: Adams, Harvey, Rawlings, Wright, Lower 

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Harbrow (virus) replaced in selected side by Everitt, Griffen (concussion)      
North Melbourne: Campbell (calf) replaced in selected side by Bastinac

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Nicholls, Wenn

Official crowd: 28,038 at Etihad Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.