By Peter Ryan and Marc McGowan
In today’s AFL match summary:
- Western Bulldogs will go into next week’s match against Fremantle with selection headaches after Lachie McNeil was subbed out in the third quarter with a corkie.
- Harry Sheezel’s record-equalling 54 disposals propelled North Melbourne past Richmond in their Hobart farewell game.
- Geelong are in the box seat to claim a top-two finish after cruising to a 43-point win over Sydney without a firing Jeremy Cameron. Cats spearhead Cameron was held goalless.
- See the AFL ladder HERE.
The Western Bulldogs have destiny in their own hands after setting up an ‘elimination final’ at Marvel Stadium next Sunday against Fremantle with a whopping 94-point victory over a hapless West Coast.
The wildcard game preview should be an intriguing encounter as the Dockers defeated the Bulldogs at Optus Stadium earlier this year when the Bulldogs were without Marcus Bontempelli.
Fremantle lost their only match at Marvel Stadium by 61 points when St Kilda took them apart in round eight while the Bulldogs have won 10 from 12 matches at the venue this season.
The Bulldogs will go into the match with some selection headaches after Lachie McNeil was subbed out in the third quarter with a corkie on Sunday after Adam Treloar nabbed 40 disposals in the VFL in an encouraging first step forward in his attempt to return from a persistent calf injury.
With the finals lure, there was never a chance the Bulldogs were going to slip up against the Eagles as they had two years earlier when a late season loss to the modern-day cellar dwellers cost them a top four spot.
The Bulldogs bounced from the blocks to kick the first four goals of the match and put the result beyond doubt by half-time with a 56-point lead. Their stars then went about finding some form before their massive clash against the Dockers which, if they win, and have a miraculous set of results go their way (Hawthorn, Giants, Collingwood and the Suns would all need to lose a game) land them as high as fourth spot.
“There is a bit of relief going into next week and now we are on for sheep stations,” Bontempelli told Fox Footy post-game.
Bontempelli was at his typical brilliant best bounding around the ground as the game’s apex predator should while Bailey Dale had 20 touches at half-time, but it was a first gamer who provided the energy the game needed.
Jordan Croft, the son of former Bulldog Matthew, announced himself with a huge grab at centre half forward six minutes into the second quarter. Aaron Naughton marked his accurate kick for goal on the line to deny him his first goal. Croft ran straight to his teammate to congratulate him and the footy gods looked after him.
Less than a minute later in a father-son passage of play the 20-year-old wearing the same number 16 his father wore took another grab after Sam Darcy handballed a loose ball to Tom Liberatore who kicked to Croft. The only father-son left out of the action was Rhylee West who was excellent kicking three goals.
This time there was no stopping him as he had his first goal in AFL football on the board as the Bulldogs charged away with the match.
The only highlight for the grounded Eagles was a Bailey Williams screamer late in the third quarter when he took a ride on Bontempelli in the forward quarter. Of course, this is West Coast, so he missed the set shot.
The Eagles’ effort was reasonable to be fair. They just copped the same treatment most of the bottom teams have copped from the Bulldogs this season, particularly at Docklands. The only difference was they failed to score, the Bulldogs restricting them to just 32 points.
They have found a player in mid-season draft selection Tom McCarthy, but their list remains too close to ground zero to see them seriously compete for finals for several seasons.
Liam Baker has been brave and should be captain next season while Reuben Ginbey has fought hard in defence. With Oscar Allen nowhere and Liam Duggan battling, he has virtually led a team that had just three players from their 2018 premiership team playing on Sunday.
Studio 54: Harry Sheezel’s record-equalling ball haul
Marc McGowan
Harry Sheezel’s record-equalling 54 disposals propelled North Melbourne past Richmond in their farewell Hobart game on Sunday as they took a major step towards finally climbing out of the AFL cellar.
The Kangaroos put paid to Adem Yze’s Tigers with an eight-goal assault in the third quarter that blew an eight-point half-time margin out to 46 at the final break. North eventually secured a 20.15 (135) to 13.9 (87) victory in the last home game of their longstanding deal with the Tasmanian government.
Harry Sheezel celebrates kicking a goal with teammates.Credit: Getty Images
Star midfielder Sheezel’s sensational performance equalled Brownlow medallist and then-Hawk Tom Mitchell’s all-time league record from seven years ago against the club he now plays for, Collingwood.
The 20-year-old, who added 16 contested possessions, 15 score involvements, six clearances and two goals, also broke his club’s single-game record of 44 disposals, which was previously jointly held by Brent Harvey, Phil Kelly and Ryan Bastinac.
“That’s crazy to think, but honestly, like, I’m not just saying it – it came to me because of the work of my teammates. The ball just fell in my lap, and it was one of those days when it [all] clicks,” Sheezel told Fox Footy.
“We’ve been chasing that win, and to get [it] is so important for our group for next week, but then also the off-season, going forward … it was a special day, and I’m really happy for the boys.”
It was the first time an AFL player had 50 or more touches in a game since Brisbane’s dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale gathered 51 in the 2019 season.
There was great theatre in the dying minutes as the Hobart crowd became aware of Sheezel’s chase for 50, then watched as Richmond’s Maurice Rioli tackled him from the side to deny him while he was on 49. But he racked up five more in a hurry.
“I thought I was way out in space, but he’s quick,” Sheezel said.
Sheezel formed a lethal midfield combination with Luke Davies-Uniacke, who won 40 disposals and a game-high 10 clearances, while ex-Swan Luke Parker (31), Tasmanian product Colby McKercher (29) and hard-nut George Wardlaw (25) were also prolific.
Paul Curtis kicked five goals, including a spectacular one in the third quarter.Credit: Getty Images
Ruckman Tristan Xerri, in his second game back from suspension, compiled 22 disposals, 40 hit-outs and 17 tackles – nine more than anyone else on the ground – and Paul Curtis slotted a career-most five goals.
Curtis’ fourth goal, which came during the third-quarter rampage, was a spectacular effort where he snapped blindly at the goals from an acute angle, deep in the pocket. He also earned praise from coach Alastair Clarkson, who predicted he would be “a really good player for us, for a long period of time”.
Clarkson made it clear afterwards that there were no attempts late to swell Sheezel’s tally, saying that only happened when a player was hunting a century of goals.
He hailed Sheezel’s “stellar” performance among an on-ball group that impressed the four-time premiership coach with their response to last week’s disappointing display against the Giants.
“We’re really pleased with our first three quarters, and our contest was so much stronger,” Clarkson said.
“GWS were much superior to us in that space last week, and we challenged our boys throughout the course of the week to be better in that space. Apart from the last quarter, [they did that].”
There was a nice moment in the last term when substitute Matt Whitlock – the player the Kangaroos drafted at No.27 last year, with the pick they gained in a much-discussed swap with the Tigers – kicked his first career goal from point-blank range after the Sherrin landed in his arms from an aerial contest.
North Melbourne gave up their first-round selection this year for that Whitlock pick, which will almost certainly be the No.2 or 3 choice. They also received Richmond’s second-rounder in 2025.
Cam Zurhaar was ruled out of the game after this incident.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
A Tigers win would have consigned the Roos to a sixth-straight bottom-two finish, something Fitzroy’s lowly teams between 1963-68 last managed 57 years ago. Instead, North’s triumph leapfrogged Richmond into 16th spot on the ladder entering the last home-and-away round.
Whitlock entered the game in the second term after teammate Cam Zurhaar suffered a gruesome left ankle injury as his leg folded underneath him in a Tylar Young tackle across the boundary line.
Two North Melbourne trainers helped Zurhaar from the field, and he was effectively removed from the contest at that moment because he did not leave via the interchange area. Zurhaar was spotted soon after on crutches and will undergo scans on Monday, but his season is over.
The Tigers then lost gun defender Nick Vlastuin to his own ankle injury shortly before half-time.
Nick Vlastuin’s day was over early.Credit: Getty Images
Vlastuin’s setback occurred in an aerial contest, where he crashed into Curtis from the opposite direction before suffering a similar hyperextension to Zurhaar, except on his right leg.
Yze revealed post-match that Vlastuin had sustained a syndesmosis injury or fractured ankle and would miss next week’s final-round clash with Geelong. The coach was frustrated with how little resistance his side offered in the third term.
“We’re obviously really disappointed with the performance. You look at the numbers at the end of the game, and you get smashed in all facets of the game,” Yze said.
“The third quarter just wasn’t good enough … at the start of the third – the first five minutes – we had all the play, we had all the time in our half, I think it was six inside 50s to zero, [but] we didn’t capitalise. And then they get through, and their first entry, they score from, and the dam wall opened.”
The Tigers went to quarter-time with a seven-point edge behind champion forward Tom Lynch’s dominance, including two goals from four shots, but the writing was on the wall as North Melbourne peppered the goals on their way to a half-time lead.