The Western Bulldogs have overcome a star-studded injury list and a spirited North Melbourne outfit to open up their 2025 campaign with a hard-fought 16-point win at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
The Dogs headed into the game without inspirational captain Marcus Bontempelli (calf), newly-minted All-Australian Adam Treloar (calf), Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Cody Weightman (knee), Liam Jones (hamstring) and Jason Johannisen (hamstring).
And they lost another soldier late in the game when Luke Cleary was knocked out cold in a sickening collision with North defender Jackson Archer as both players had only eyes for the loose ball on the Kangaroos’ half-forward line.
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Following a very lengthy delay, Cleary was stretchered from the ground to a warm round of applause from the crowd after each one of his teammates went over to him while he was on the medi-cab.
With the one-two punch of Bontempelli and Treloar missing from the midfield, the likes of Ed Richards (30 disposals and one goal), Tom Liberatore (28 touches) and new recruit Matthew Kennedy (23) stood tall and filled the void as the Dogs ran out 17.11 (113) to 14.13 (97) winners.
Bailey Dale was also fantastic with 29 possessions and two goals from defence, while Nick Larkey kicked five goals for the Kangaroos as the Bulldogs extended their winning streak against North to eight games.
North Melbourne’s effort and desire couldn’t be questioned, but frustratingly for their long-suffering supporters, they missed a real opportunity to pinch an early win against an undermanned opponent and they finished another game behind their opposition in a familiar scenario which was hoped to be a thing of the past.
The Kangaroos took huge advantages in clearances (27-14), centre clearances (9-3) and contested possessions (74-58) into half-time, but despite all of that, they still trailed the Dogs for inside 50s (23-29) and fell 21 points behind early in the third quarter.
North were their own worst enemies as their poor disposal forward of centre undid all their good work at the coal face and the Bulldogs burnt them on the counter with far superior efficiency in attack.
However, the Roos would not go away as their grit and determination got them back within seven points at three-quarter time. But that proved to be the last big shot they would fire as the Bulldogs made a blistering start to the final term, stretching their lead back out to four goals in the blink of an eye.
Relive foxfooty.com.au’s coverage of Bulldogs-Roos below!
