Wow. What a game, this was just unbelievable. After copping a whack in round 3, I was hopeful that we could put in a good showing against Adelaide, but I have to say that I just didn’t expect a 10 goal win.

The weekend started with drama at the selection table. Matthew Boyd, Marcus Bontempelli and Easton Wood are all in our best 22, so no surprises seeing them come back into the team. The return of Clay Smith may have been a little unexpected, but it’s great to see the hard fella back. The big surprise was who went out, namely Will Minson being omitted, leaving Ayce Cordy to shoulder the bulk of the ruck work.

Bulldog supporters came out of the woodwork everywhere to start potting the coach for the selection madness. Were we tanking? What did Will do? Initially, I admit, I was in this camp. But as game time approached it only took a little imagination & a bit of squinting to see that Bevo’s plan is obviously to blood the youth, in every position. Cordy is a difficult player to blood. He is clearly a ruckman. No amount of squinting will make him look like a forward, or even a dangerous ruckman who can rest up forward. He is a ruckman like we used to see back in the day before Dean Cox ruined it for tall guys everywhere, and the only place a true ruckman can play, is in the ruck. There is never a good time to drop a recently All Australian player, so of course the selection committee (mainly the coach) would have copped it if Cordy had another shocker. But he didn’t, he played the best game in his longshort AFL career, so credit must go to the committee. He didn’t set the world on fire by any means, but his positioning and defensive work rate were good, and it all bodes well for our future.

In hindsight it looks like a genius move, they saw that Ayce couldn’t reproduce his VFL form at AFL level only pinch hitting in the ruck, so pulled the strings that would enable him to take on the ruck role in full flight.

But what does this mean? Is Ayce our number 1 ruckman now? Will Big Will struggle to get back in the side? Did Ayce win us the game? Was he even in our best players? Is there something similar we can do for Jarrad Grant? I think the answer to all of these questions is a simple ‘no’. It does mean that most of us supporters, myself included, should shut up and trust the changes that the coach and selection committee make from week to week. There is a reason they are in those positions after all. But seriously, Jarrad Grant, still?

Anyways, back to the game! I’d be here all day if I wanted to recount all the players who played well, I honestly don’t recall a more comprehensive win right across the field. Eddie Betts kicked a few late goals, but I don’t think any Bulldogs got beaten by their opponents in the first 3 quarters, when the game was alive. So I’ll just stick to my vote getters, plus the mandatory observational notes on #TheBont.

Luke Dahlhaus has well and truly elevated his game beyond ‘livewire forward’ and is now an accomplished midfielder. His work rate is top shelf, as evidenced by his tackle count, and his disposal doesn’t let him down. He still had that goal sense and is always dangerous around goal. He’s going to do some damage in the years to come.

Jake Stringer rebounded from his shocker last week against the Hawks, and probably would have got my three votes if not for getting subbed off in the third. I’m not worried about the ice on his hamstring at all, purely precautionary. This kid continues to be my favorite player, though the competition is getting stiffer by the week.

One vote goes to Bob Murphy who got back to his rebounding best after being stifled a little last week. Did the inclusion on Matthew Boyd have anything to do with this? It would be foolish to think not. Those two on the half back flanks were Bevo’s first masterstrokes this season in my opinion. Oh, and is there a more precise kick in the league? Bobs ability to find a target in traffic directly lead to at least a few goals from memory.

Bontempelli observation: TheBont is often compared to Scott Pendlebury, but I think his ability to enter a pack, pick up the ball from the ground cleanly, and then depart said pack – seemingly workout being touched – is something that we haven’t seen since Anthony Koutafides was running around. The kid is an excitement machine and the hype is justified. Adelaide put some work into him early, which I’ve expected since round 1, but the game got out of control for them in so many other areas that they couldn’t persist. It will be interesting to see what happens again next week.

Round 4 votes:
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3. Dahlhaus
2. Stringer
1. Murphy

Special mention: Lucas Webb played his second game and showed that his balance, play reading and composure last week was no fluke. He needs a nickname though, and I find ‘Spud’ rolls off the tongue easily, in honor of 90s NBA player Spud Webb. The word Spud had been kidnapped in recent years to compare things, especially sportspeople, to potatos. While it is quite evocative in that role and is one of my favorite PC slurs, it’s time we reclaim ‘Spud’ from the dark side.