September 19, 2008

THE general consensus was that absolutely everything would have to go right for Western Bulldogs to derail the Geelong juggernaut on Friday night.

They had to match the Cats' intensity. And they had to find a dominant forward.

For a quarter all of that was happening, allowing the Doggies' diehards to dream of an unlikely first grand final appearance since 1961.

Brian Lake and Lindsay Gilbee were marshalling the backline, the midfield was breaking even and talented youngster Shaun Higgins had four scoring shots in the first quarter for a return of 2.2.

Jason Akermanis even wound back the clock to the glory days of 2001-2003 with a flying left-footed snap at top pace - just what Rodney Eade had in mind when he recruited the brash Brownlow medallist from Brisbane two years ago.

Even so, the Cats still managed to kick the last three goals of the term to lead by six points at the first break.

The signs were there that normal service was about to be resumed. Keeping pace with Geelong for a quarter is one thing. Going the whole distance with a side that has now won 42 of its last 44 matches is another matter altogether.

Josh Hunt replaced Darren Milburn on Higgins and shut him down. All Australian trio Joel Corey, Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel wrested the ascendancy in the midfield. And the under-sized Dogs attack became easy pickings for the Cats defence.

Geelong skipper Tom Harley even found time to sneak forward - courtesy of a generous 50m penalty - to boot his first goal of 2008 and only the 11th of his stellar 183-game career.

The Dogs could only manage one goal in the second quarter and even that came as something of a surprise in time-on, with Nathan Eagleton landing a trademark snap over his shoulder after the ball spilled free from a stoppage.

That the Cats would start the third term exhibiting the same sort of dominance was no surprise.

That the Bulldogs would then take command for 10 minutes late in the quarter was much more of a shock.

Jarrod Harbrow bobbed up to kick two goals, but misses from Eagleton, Will Minson and Mitch Hahn proved very costly.

The Cats don't give you many chances - and you have to take all of them when the time comes.

The Dogs also held sway for the opening 10 minutes of the final quarter but could not buy a goal with Matthew Boyd and Minson again proving not up to the task.

So there was a certain sense of inevitability when the Cats booted the crucial opening goal of the last term through Max Rooke at the 10-minute mark to give the reigning premiers an unbeatable 23-point lead before going on to win 12.11 (83) to 7.12 (54).

That Brad Johnson should have been awarded a free kick after being charged by Rooke in the build-up to the goal was certain.

But so was the broader truth that the Dogs had had their chances and squandered them, kicking only two goals in the second half.

So for the second year running, the Cats advanced to the grand final with a less than convincing preliminary final victory after falling over the line by five points against Collingwood in 2007.

But it's also worth remembering that a week later they belted Port Adelaide by 119 points in the big one.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson said his team had carried great external expectations into every match they played this season and had continued to handle it well.

"It's been a pretty pressurised year, it really has, the longer it's gone the more pressure people are putting on us," Thompson said.

"The expectation to win, our supporters are expecting to win every game they play, the media, all the other people from all the other clubs and that's a hard thing to carry.

"I think our guys have just handled it terrifically well, we'll just stick our head down this week, go about our business and give ourselves the best shot to play the best footy we can next week."

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade said his team could take a lot of heart from their performance and their win over Sydney last week, despite being disappointed to fall short of a grand final.

"There was a lot of pride and a lot of spirit in their efforts," Eade said.

"A lot of people wrote us off two weeks ago and we showed last week and this week that there's a fair bit of spirit within the group.

"I think this season we've made quantum strides forward, the biggest jump of any team, 13th to third, and I think we've made quantum strides as an organisation both on and off the field."

He was confident the pain of losing tonight would help spur them to work towards taking the next step in 2009.

"Close enough is not good enough and there's no prizes for second, or third as we're going to finish," he said.

"We just need to probably recognise there's (sic) a couple of little holes that we need to work on over the summer.

"I've got no doubt this group will probably stew on that a bit over the summer, like last summer, we'll come back with a focus of taking those extra steps forward."