BARRY Hall's first outing against his former side has proved a memorable one, with the spearhead leading the Western Bulldogs to a morale-boosting 38-point win over the Sydney Swans at Manuka Oval on Saturday.
Hall, who was traded to Whitten Oval late last year after being told his temperament had become too much of a risk for the Swans, kicked five goals in the 14.17 (101) to 9.9 (63) win.
While the Bulldogs' victory takes them to a 5-3 record and into the top four, the nature of the performance would have most pleased coach Rodney Eade after some patchy early-season form.
The Swans, also 5-3, are left searching for answers after successive heavy defeats against legitimate top-four contenders and may have to consider their short-term prospects without key forward Daniel Bradshaw, who was a late withdrawal.
Despite Adam Goodes' four goals they often struggled to find a target, while the Bulldogs received even contributions across the board and managed to cover midfielder Ryan Griffen.
The midfield was superbly fed by ruckman Ben Hudson, who made the most of the absence of the Swans' preferred big men, and ball-winners Daniel Cross (32 possessions), Matthew Boyd (29) and Adam Cooney (24) were very productive.
Full-back Brian Lake was a tower of strength, and even ventured forward to kick two goals.
Jarrad McVeigh (30 disposals), Marty Mattner (23) and Rhyce Shaw (29) tried hard for the Swans.
The Bulldogs set up the win with outstanding second and third terms, kicking 10.6 in that time to the Swans' 3.7.
They led by 29 points at half time and any hope of a Swans revival was snuffed out soon after as Hall kicked his fourth goal.
The sting had left the game by the final term with the Bulldogs failing to register a goal after leading by as much as 54 points late in the third quarter.
Western Bulldogs 4.4 9.6 14.10 14.17 (101)
Sydney Swans 3.2 4.7 6.9 9.9 (63)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Hall 5, Stack 3, Lake 2, Eagleton, Hahn, Higgins, Hill
Sydney Swans: Goodes 4, Hannebery 2, Bolton, Kirk, Rohan
BEST
Western Bulldogs: Lake, Hall, Cross, Boyd, Stack, Hudson, Cooney
Sydney Swans: Goodes, McVeigh, Shaw, Mattner
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Griffen (back tightness) replaced in selected side by Eagleton, Murphy (knee)
Sydney Swans: Bradshaw (knee) replaced in selected side by Bevan
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Farmer, Chamberlain, McInerney
Official crowd: 14,308 at Manuka Oval
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
