Round 21, 2024
Western Bulldogs vs Melbourne
Friday 2 August
Venue: Docklands
Attendance: 33,000
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final | |
| Western Bulldogs | 4.7 | 6.13 | 11.17 | 15.20.110 |
| Melbourne | 1.1 | 5.1 | 7.3 | 9.5.59 |
Footscray win by 51 points
Goalkickers: Bayley Fritsch 2, Kysaiah Pickett 2, Tom Sparrow 2, Max Gawn 1, Trent Rivers 1, Taj Woewodin 1
Milestones:
Nil
Consecutive defeats had already left Melbourne's finals hopes on the edge, and a comfortable loss to the in-form Bulldogs all but ended them with three games to play. In their only Docklands game of 2024, the Demons were comfortably beaten in the midfield again, and spent much of the first quarter grimly defending as the home side kept the ball inside forward 50. Melbourne was temporarily let off by poor kicking from opposition forwards, but were unable to clear the ball and soon on the back foot again. By quarter time the margin was four goals, less than the Demons led by a week earlier before losing, but looking like a mountain to climb.
After a four goal to two second quarter, the margin was briefly cut to 15 points before the Bulldogs took over again. By the last term they comfortably had the game in the bag, allowing Melbourne to experiment by playing youngsters Judd McVee, Koltyn Tholstrup and Taj Woewodin in the midfield.
Best were Max Gawn, Ed Langdon, and Jacob van Rooyen. Daniel Turner replaced Steven May (ribs) after half time. Clayton Oliver was fined $1250 for engaging in a melee.
The Bulldogs played under their traditional name Footscray to commemorate the 1954 Grand Final win.
It was the second time in 2024, after Round 17, that a Melbourne crowd landed exactly on a thousand number after previously not happening since 1999.
Lists
Tribunal
Media
AFL.com.au - 02/08/2024
Links
Demonblog match review