The Demons swung the axe at selection as they aim to rebound from a season-opening loss to the Swans, as we prepare for our first look at the 2024 Western Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at the MCG.
The Demons (0-1) made three omissions in five changes on Thursday night, dropping Adam Tomlinson, Josh Schache and Bailey Laurie — and losing Jake Bowey (collarbone) and Charlie Spargo (Achilles) — in favour of the returning Kysaiah Pickett (suspension), Tom McDonald, Ben Brown, Marty Hore and Taj Woewodin.
The Bulldogs, meantime, will inject tantalising Tasmanian Ryley Sanders and patient 2022 draftee Harvey Gallagher for their AFL debuts, alongside recruits James Harmes, Lachlan Bramble and Nick Coffield, who will stamp their first outings in Dogs colours.
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Bulldogs midfielder Jack Macrae has been overlooked by Luke Beveridge’s match committee, which decided against granting the veteran even a spot on the emergencies list for Sunday’s Round 1 bout.
It comes after an off-season where the 29-year-old was relegated from the club’s leadership group in an eyebrow-raising move.
Luke Cleary, Oskar Baker and Sam Darcy are the Dogs’ emergencies leading into the game.
Harmes’ Doggies debut will also mark his first match against his former side, the Demons, who welcomed McDonald and Brown into its side for the first time this year.
Schache (four disposals, two marks) failed to retain his spot following an unassuming outing against the Swans last Thursday, while Laurie was the starting substitute in Sydney.
Off-season recruit Tom Fullarton finds himself on Simon Goodwin’s emergencies list alongside Laurie and draftee Koltyn Tholstrup.
There are no late changes, with Taj Woewodin (Melbourne) and Caleb Daniel (Bulldogs) — a mildly surprising decision — named this afternoon’s starting substitutes.
This match gets underway at 1:00pm AEDT from the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504) from 12:30pm AEDT.
MATCH UPDATES
Pre-game, Demons coach Simon Goodwin confirmed reports that the recently-retired Angus Brayshaw would perform a side-line coaching role on Sunday and going forward.
“We wanted to give him some time away, but he’s going to be like a coach on the bench,” Goodwin told Fox Footy on Sunday.
“He’s knows our game well, he knows our players and he brings an energy and a connection to our group that’s really strong.
“So, to have him sitting there, working closely with him, we’ll have a bit of fun down there and make sure there’s a lot of positivity.”
Shortly after the first bounce, the Bulldogs got rolling. An early Sanders disposal led to an inside-50 mark for Aaron Naughton, who kicked truly to draw first blood at the ‘G.
The Dogs have started crisply, with two dead-straight entries leading to a pair of scoring shots, while the Demons are yet to enter their forward sector.
“If the coach had drawn up the start to this game, it’d be just about perfect,” said commentator Anthony Hudson on Fox Footy.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan booted the Dogs’ second major before Jack Viney quickly responded with Melbourne’s first.
Former Demon Jordan Lewis described Melbourne’s early ball-movement as “patient”, drawing comparisons to the Dees’ pre-season outing against Carlton.
“The Bulldogs’ talls have come to play in this first quarter,” Dogs great Brad Johnson told Fox Footy, as Rory Lobb booted the Bulldogs’ third of the first term.
Melbourne started to wrestle back some ascendency as the first quarter wore on, with Pickett cementing his AFL return with a lovely snapping goal to pull the Dogs’ lead to just five points.
Debutant Gallagher snapped his first AFL goal late in the quarter after a Max Gawn turnover “gifted” a golden opportunity to the youngster, extending his side’s lead to 11 points.
A mishap deep in defence for the Dogs led directly to a simple goal for Melbourne’s Kade Chandler, before Jacob van Rooyen added another to give the Demons their first advantage of the afternoon by quarter-time.
Lewis explained Melbourne’s resurgence in the second portion of the first term.
“They’re trying to energise their ball movement and really make the Dogs players defend,” he told Fox Footy at quarter-time.
“It was a game of two quarters — the Dogs were so dominant in the first part of the quarter … Then it flipped in the second half.”
Quick majors to Alex Neal-Bullen and Chandler extended Melbourne’s lead to 13 points early in the second quarter.
“That’s five goals in a row to the Dees!” exclaimed Fox Footy commentator Matt Hill as Ben Brown ran into an open goal in his return to the senior side.
After looking listless early in the second term, captain Marcus Bontempelli steadied the Dogs’ ship, snapping a much-needed major to reduce their deficit to 13 points.
Brown nabbed his second major of the quarter after a free-kick against the Bulldogs in the goalsquare made it a simple equation, as captain Max Gawn started to stamp his influence on the game.
“Max Gawn is having a huge say on this game,” declared Lewis midway through the second stanza.
“He has been unbelievable. (He’s) grabbed it out of the ruck a few times.”
Added Hudson: “He’s had six clearances off his own steam.”
Johnson also voiced his thoughts on the ruck battle between Gawn and the Bulldogs’ Tim English, claiming “Gawn’s impact on the game has been a lot more significant (than English).”
After a second term spent mostly jostling, the Demons took a 12-point lead into the main change.
Gawn (15 disposals, four marks and six clearances) led the way for Melbourne, alongside Clayton Oliver (21 disposals, five inside-50s) and Christian Petracca (16 possessions at 81 per cent efficiency).
Bontempelli had 16 disposals and a goal for the Bulldogs.
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