The Western Bulldogs have brought a ruthless mentality to Pride Round in thrashing Essendon by 43 points.
Friday night’s 10.5 (65) to 2.10 (22) result was the Bulldogs’ seventh win for the season and sent a warning to the top eight sides on the cusp of finals.
It came despite their shaky start in front of a home crowd at Whitten Oval.
Essendon came out firing and Emily Gough kicked the first goal inside the first two minutes, spurring the Dons, who played with high pressure and repeatedly locked the ball in their forward half.
The Bulldogs responded with five unanswered goals with the help of an unstoppable Isabelle Pritchard, who had 30 disposals and 10 clearances.
“We weren’t playing the style of game that we came to play,” Dogs midfielder Jess Fitzgerald said after quarter time.
“We wanted to come into the game with a bit of a ruthless mentality, and we felt like we didn’t bring that in the first.
“So, yeah, we turned that on.”
Essendon were down by 25 points at half-time but hopes of repeating last week’s win over the Giants, a comeback from 24 points down at half-time, were cut short by their inability to find the goals.
After Gough’s early major, the Bombers kicked nine points until Sophie Alexander found their second just before three-quarter time.
The Bombers managed one more point in the final term, while the Dogs slotted another three goals.
Star forward Sarah Hartwig had a career-high four goals and helped the Western Bulldogs surpass the 60-point mark for the fifth time since 2025.
“Honestly, it’s just that work rate and the pressure that we bring, especially in the forward line. That’s what we pride ourselves on,” she said.
Despite the win, the Bulldogs still have work to do in the season’s run home, Hartwig said.
“We’re not looking to finals yet. We’ve got three tough games coming up, so we’re going to focus on that first,” she said.
The Dogs will face Carlton, Melbourne and Geelong — all premiership contenders — in the final three games of the season.
Essendon will play North Melbourne, before facing Hawthorn and Collingwood.
AAP
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