Kennedy Bags 10 as Eagles Deliver Bulldog Belting
When Chris Judd declared that he would head home to Victoria at the end of the 2007 season, the premiership captain was adamant West Coast would be fairly compensated for his departure.
Following a tender process involving four clubs, the Blues ultimately came up with the package that earned the services of Judd, exchanging the number 3 and 20 draft selections, as well as emerging West Australian forward Josh Kennedy.
Kennedy had booted 11 goals in 22 games across two seasons at the Blues, and while Carlton were reluctant to let the key forward go, the opportunity to bring Judd to the club was too great to refuse.
Judd was instantly instilled as captain, guided the Blues to finals appearances in 2009 and 2010 and claimed the club champion award in his first three years at the club as well as winning the 2010 Brownlow.
For West Coast, Josh Kennedy was always going to be a longer-term project.
And in his 53rd game with the club, the Eagles saw exactly what Kennedy could produce when he booted a career best 10 goals in a 123 point thumping of the Western Bulldogs.
Kennedy got the better of four opponents on the day, kicking 10.3 from 21 disposals and 15 marks as the Eagles orchestrated a remarkable 183 point turnaround from their last meeting with the Bulldogs. That game, in Round 13 of 2010, saw ‘Dogs come to Perth and claim an easy 60 point win.
However, the side that had reached the penultimate weekend of the season in each of the previous three seasons appeared a shell on this trip to Perth, outplayed from the opening bounce.
The Bulldogs were without several important players, including Brian Lake and Barry Hall (who was named an emergency as he returned from injury), while Adam Cooney was forced out with a knee injury and Dylan Addison injured an ankle at training. However, Shaun Higgins, Easton Wood and Tom Williams could all be recalled.
West Coast made just the two changes, bringing in Andrew Embley and Daniel Kerr who had been late withdrawals the week before. Their two replacements for the Derby in Brad Sheppard and Andrew Gaff made way.
Kennedy’s big day started in the opening minute when Matt Rosa and Scott Selwood combined to win the first stoppage, before sliding the ball to Luke Shuey who found Kennedy. Kennedy would have a further three goals by quarter time and added a fifth, 56 seconds into the second term.
By this point the Eagles had opened up a five goal lead, although the visitors were able to manage the halt the damage to half time. Remarkably, when Jarrad Grant and Daniel Giansiracusa goaled midway through the third term, the margin was just 22 points between the sides, but the Eagles rammed home their clear advantage in the game with the next seven goals.
The game was as good as done by three-quarter time with West Coast leading by 59 points, before the Eagles went another level.
West Coast stepped into savage mode.
The last term became a procession as the Eagles slammed on 10.4 to nothing to come away with a 20 goal victory, having kicked 17 of the last 18 goals in the match. After four goals in the first quarter, Kennedy added two in each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th terms, with teammates mobbing the key forward when he became just the fourth Eagle in club history to reach double digits.
Kennedy would be the standout from the result, but there wasn’t a poor Eagle in the house.
Scott Selwood and Daniel Kerr provided the grunt in the middle, Andrew Embley and Matt Rosa gave the outside run and Luke Shuey provided the cream through the centre and the perfect foil up forward, booting five goals from 27 disposals.
With the Eagle talls dominating, Mark LeCras spent more time through the middle, gathering 29 disposals and booting three goals. Darren Glass held the defence, blanketing Jarrad Grant with Ashley Smith and Shannon Hurn proficient in exiting the ball out of the Bulldogs forward 50 on the few times they got that far up the ground.
Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox were superior over Ben Hudson and Will Minson, Quinten Lynch and Jack Darling roamed up and down the ground to send the ball inside 50 on ten occasions and Adam Selwood kept the reins on Daniel Cross.
All aspects of the game pointed to a shellacking.
West Coast finished the game with 121 more disposals, 35 more marks, won the clearances 48-37, recorded 34 more inside-50s and had a staggering 33 more scoring shots (45-12). The Eagles also took 27 marks inside their forward 50, with the combination of Kennedy, Darling, Lynch and Cox proving too much for the undersized Bulldog defence.
The 123 point margin was the third largest win in the clubs history and was also their highest score since 2006.
While teammates and fans were celebrating the massive win, coach John Worsfold was quick to stifle expectations declaring the upcoming round 10 match against Collingwood ‘the real measuring kick’.
“I told them after the game you get four points for the win. You get a lot of pats on the backs – well above what four points deserves.”
“They deserve the accolades that come but it doesn’t give you anything other than one win. I wanted to see them maintain the effort they put in last week and they did that.”
Worsfold was also full of praise for Kennedy following his career-best day. “It reinforces the faith in the ability that we all know he (Kennedy) does have. It is good reward because he works as hard as anyone.”
“It wasn’t ideal losing Chris Judd but… we were more than pleased with the outcome of that trade.”
While Worsfold was playing down the expectations of his side, Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade declared West Coast were premiership contenders, following what he described as the ‘worst loss his career’. The magnitude of the defeat – the fourth worst in the history of the Bulldogs, and their largest defeat since 1996 – followed in the coming days, with president David Smorgon issuing an open letter to members apologising for the performance.
Smorgon was also forced to deny Eade’s tenure as coach was under threat, despite the veteran coach being out of contract at the end of the season. “With 14 rounds to play, I want to reiterate that we will continue to support and encourage Rodney Eade and the match committee to make whatever changes they feel necessary to ensure we again start playing consistent footy every week and every quarter.”
The big victory saw the Eagles move up one place to sixth on the ladder, with the biggest gain in the percentage column, rising from 112.6 to 131. The Eagles moved past the Swans who were thrashed at home by Hawthorn to the tune of 46 points. That saw the Hawks climb up to third after Essendon and Carlton both suffered defeats in the round.
The Bombers were 16 point losers to the Tigers, with Richmond joining the Swans on four and a half wins on the outskirts of the top eight. Carlton went down to the top of the table Cats by just two points in one of the games of the season.
The Blues jumped out of the blocks early, twice leading by 20 points during the first half, before a late rally before half-time saw the top four aspirants level at the major break. Geelong edged away during the third term, before Carlton strung four of five goals either side of three-quarter time to take back the lead.
The Cats then settled through Steve Johnson and James Podsiadly, but the Blues had chances late in the game to steal the win, with Jarrad Waite and Robert Warnock missing shots on goal. The Bombers and Blues were now just half a game in front of the Eagles.
The Dockers joined the Eagles on five wins when they easily accounted for Port Adelaide, who slumped to the bottom of the ladder after Brisbane broke through for their first win of the season over North Melbourne. The Demons hopes of making finals took a hit when they fell to a 20 point defeat against the Saints, who had started the season horribly after playing in the previous two grand finals. St Kilda had recorded just two wins and a draw in their first eight games.
Next up for West Coast was arguably their biggest challenge of the year – a trip to the MCG to tackle the all-conquering Magpies.
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