Mature-aged Bulldogs recruit Brett Goodes may come under scrutiny from the AFL match review panel for this bump on Geelong's Josh Caddy.
Joel Selwood bursts out of the middle. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
THE massive screen on the way into Etihad Stadium beamed the words "Western Bulldogs v Geelong: Mission Possible".
And while there were occasional glimmers of an improbable upset - including midway through the final quarter - there was always going to be flaw in the plot that counted against a Hollywood ending.
In a nutshell, it was simply that for all the Dogs' grunt and sweat and good intentions they were no match for the class, experience and occasional brilliance of the Cats.
And while it would be easy to laud the bravery of the underdog for refusing to give in, the same applies to a Geelong team that was reduced to 20 men from midway through the second term.
The Bulldogs began brightly, kicking the first two goals of the match and dominating the centre bounces largely through the powerful ruckwork of Will Minson.
Up forward Liam Jones was plucking marks and looked dangerous in the Dogs forward line, even though the Hawkins-less Cats still had Harry Taylor and James Podsiadly as effective marking targets at the other end.
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Nick Lower kept Geelong captain Joel Selwood to just three touches in the opening term, and although the Cats led by 16 points at the first change there were encouraging signs for the Dogs.
Geelong had the most influential player of the first half: Steve Johnson spent the early part of the match in the midfield and was as creative as he was unpredictable. But while you never knew what he would do with the ball, he could be relied upon to do the basics when he didn't have it.
Three times he laid crunching tackles that resulted in scoring chances for teammates. After all, even Picasso obeyed some of the time-honoured principles of his craft when his paintbrush championed cubism.
The match looked headed for a predictable storyline when Geelong got out to a 34-point lead midway through the second quarter. So much so that Cats looked like they were becoming bored and started searching for ways to entertain themselves. The Dogs made them pay by scrapping their way back into the contest.
The likes of Matthew Boyd, Tom Liberatore and Daniel Cross kept toiling away honestly, while Jason Johannisen and Luke Dahlhaus used their dash to try to take on the Cats and create.
In the third quarter the Dogs simply tightened up and made the Cats more accountable, opting to go one on one with their opponents.
For all of their sustained periods of discipline, though, they frequently found themselves sliced open by a Geelong team prepared to back itself and takes risks. The Cats were prepared to flick handballs around to find space and then charge through the middle of the ground.
Once in space they either delivered the ball to Taylor and Podsiadly, or backed in the pace and creativity of the likes of Steven Motlop, Johnson and Allen Christensen.
Steven Motlop celebrates his goal in the second quarter. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun
Taylor was superb in the absence of last year's club champion Tom Hawkins, and when the Cats needed steadying in the final quarter he even switched to defence and took some timely marks.
sThe Dogs probably had the better of the centre bounces and midfield stoppages, but struggled to make inroads in their forward half, where the cool Geelong heads of Andrew Mackie, James Bartel and Corey Enright controlled play.
The Bulldogs kicked the only goals in the final term (three) as Geelong, down on its interchange rotations, began to tire. But the Cats did what good teams do: they gutsed it out and did what they needed to do to win.
But there were plenty of encouraging signs for a Bulldogs team that seemingly was faced with Mission Impossible. Several of their youngsters showed a bit, and while they were ultimately outclassed, it's worth remembering they were without four of the most polished players on their list: Ryan Griffen, Bob Murphy, Daniel Giansiracusa and Shaun Higgins.
Then again, Geelong could argue it was down to a measly 13 premiership players.
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