1. A game of inches… or millimetres

Life is a game of inches – and so is football.
Or so Al Pacino says in Any Given Sunday.
For the Bulldogs, that was very much the case against the West Coast Eagles on Sunday.
Nothing separated the teams at half time. One point at three quarter time. Less than a kick for the duration of the final term.
In two key moments, it was an inch – or maybe even a few millimetres – that was the difference between winning and losing.
Ryan Gardner denying Jack Darling on the three-quarter time siren on the mark.
Marcus Bontempelli’s late goal from outside the 50-metre arc, which just got the journey.
Inches? Millimetres? Enough to keep the Bulldogs’ season alive.

2. Toby the tagger

Toby McLean found a place in the Bulldogs’ side hard to lock down early in the season.
But he’s very much an integral part of that mix again now.
On Sunday, he was critical to the Bulldogs’ narrow win, playing an old-fashioned shutdown role on West Coast star Andrew Gaff.
McLean had 20 disposals of his own, and an equal game-high nine tackles.
But he also restricted the influential Gaff to just 15 disposals and only 195 metres gained – well down on his season average of 23.6 disposals and 337.6 metres gained.

3. Composed pups hold their nerve

It was almost the opposite of last week’s loss to Geelong, albeit in slightly different circumstances.
But this time, the Bulldogs pushed and pushed, then held their nerve at the death.
It’s a big win for this young side, against one of the competition’s best teams – and while they may have been missing some stars, wins like this fuel belief.
Epitomising that impact towards the end of the night was young ruckman Tim English.
After a controversial ruck free kick gifted Jack Darling a shot on goal – and the ensuing behind closing the margin to one solitary point – English almost took it upon himself from there, controlling the game in the air to help get the Bulldogs home.