HOW THEY LINED UP
Both teams lined up as expected with Brian Lake going to Jonathan Brown and Dale Morris to Daniel Bradshaw.

In the midfield, Daniel Cross had the crucial tagging job on Simon Black while Michael Rischitelli was assigned to Adam Cooney, who in recent times has dined out on the Lions. Cooney started at full-forward to try to avoid the tag but it wasn't long before he was thrown into the midfield.

Ash McGrath was pitted against his old teammate Jason Akermanis and the ultra-dependable Joel Patfull had the job on dangerous veteran Brad Johnson.

FOUR QUARTERS
Q1: Western Bulldogs 4.2 (25) v Brisbane Lions 0.6 (6)
It was a very windy night, which was always going to make it difficult to be effective with disposal. At the MCG the wind swirls around and is continually changing direction, so it's very hard to allow for it.

It was always going to suit the Bulldogs' style, as they love to run and handball and not boot the ball long and high. When you do that in these conditions it's impossible not to turn the ball over regularly.

Both teams were getting plenty of the ball but the Dogs' movement, linking up with handball through the centre of the ground was creating many effective entries into the forward 50 while the Lions moved the ball by foot and were struggling to enter their 50 the way they would have liked.

Brown had to work right up to the wings to get his ball but then turned around without much to kick to, as Bradshaw was playing out of the square. However, they still had their chances when they got it inside 50 but couldn't convert gettable shots on goal. You couldn't help thinking they had blown the game with those misses.

The Dogs dominated the clearances 11to four with Cross quelling Black's influence on the game, especially around the stoppages, and Matthew Boyd and Daniel Giansiracusa getting nine touches each.

Q2: Western Bulldogs 6.6 (42) v Brisbane Lions 3.7 (25)
The Lions changed tack and started pushing their small forwards up the ground, allowing Brown to stay closer to home. This started to pay dividends, with Brown kicking two goals for the term.

Both teams were desperate to bring the ball through the corridor but skill errors in the windy conditions were causing many turnovers. The city end to which the Dogs were kicking was proving tough and they added four behinds. When entering the 50, the Dogs were more patient and opted to chip the ball around until they could get a short pass to a leading forward. With a three-goal-to-two quarter, the Lions went into the major break with some hope.

Q3: Western Bulldogs 11.8 (74) v Brisbane Lions 5.7 (37)
With the Bulldogs pushing their forwards up into the midfield and leaving one or two inside 50, the Lions couldn't penetrate through the centre of the ground. The Dogs' pressure was relentless and when they caused a turnover they kicked the ball inside 50 to one-on-one contests.

The Lions' defenders had little chance as the forwards had far too much space to work with. They needed two of their defenders to stay back for support and let the Dogs' forwards go when they pushed up the ground.

If the Dogs won the ball and looked up to see their forwards were outnumbered three-to-one or four-to-two, they would have had to hold onto it and chip it around. This would have allowed the Lions to all push back to clog up the Dogs' forward line.

That didn't happen and when Nathan Eagleton and Mitch Hahn both kicked their third goals for the game, it was looking impossible for the Lions to come back.

Q4: Western Bulldogs 16.11 (107) v Brisbane Lions 8.8 (56)
After a five-minute arm wrestle, big Will Minson slotted the first goal of the quarter and from then on it was one-way traffic. On the scoreboard it didn't look that bad, with a five-goal to three-goal contribution the Dogs' way, but it seemed like a drubbing.

Eagleton was superb and finished with 30 high-class possessions and Matthew Boyd continued his stellar season with 36.

MATCH-UPS THAT MATTERED
Daniel Cross v Simon Black
If the Lions were to have a chance to win, Black needed to be best on the ground. Rodney Eade obviously thought the same and gave Cross the job of negating him. And that's what he did. Cross was sensational in giving Black no space, restricting him to 14 possessions while picking up 22 himself.

Brian Lake v Jonathan Brown
Great duel. Brown took 15 marks and kicked three goals. A lot of those marks were taken up the ground and Lake was able to spoil at opportune times when they contested in the Lions' forward 50.

THE COACHES
Rodney Eade
Very good as usual. His match-ups were spot on, he rotated his players well (like for like) and created the perfect game style. Players got back to support when they won the ball and ran, broke the lines, linked up and kicked into an open forward line. If the forward line wasn't open, they were patient and waited for the right option.

Michael Voss
His players didn't take their opportunities in the first quarter and he tried to make some changes to get them back into the game. But it was a hard balance when all that had gone wrong was the goalkickers' execution.

As the game went on, I would have liked to see more protection of the back 50 as it was far too open. The Dogs love to run at the man through the midfield, draw the man in, then handball to the player in support. By telling the players not to get drawn in, it forces the ball-carrier to kick – hopefully to a protected back 50.

HOW THE GAME WAS LOST
Kicking six behinds in the first quarter put the Lions on the back foot for the rest of the night. Their inability to win the ball at the stoppages had a major effect. They needed their great ball users in Black and Daniel Rich to deliver it more often. When they got the ball deep into their forward 50, Bradshaw was well beaten by Morris and that obviously put a big dint in their armour.

HOW THE GAME WAS WON
The Dogs' dominance in the midfield was the key. They didn't allow the Lions to have an influence in there, while Cooney, Boyd, Eagleton and Gia picked up a heap of possessions and used them well. By having this midfield win, it granted the forwards plenty of opportunities and took the pressure off the defenders.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.