Ex-Lion leads Bulldogs to win

Former Brisbane Lions defender James Hawksley kicked six goals on debut as Bunbury thrashed an out-of-sorts Augusta-Margaret River 14.9 (93) to 3.5 (23) at Payne Park on Sunday. Aside from the opening 10 minutes of the clash, this match was played on the Bulldogs’ terms across every area of the ground. Once able to absorb the early pressure, the home side feasted on the Hawks’ discouragement with a barrage of uncompromising tackles and slick ball movement. With Harry Creasey, Brad Blake and Jesse Gribble running amok in the middle of the ground, Hawksley and Mark Longbottom were provided excellent service in attack. Leading by 13 points at quarter-time, the Bulldogs piled on 5.2 in the second term, while holding the visitors scoreless. But worse was yet to come for the Hawks. Such was the ease in which the home side went about their business at times in the second half, at one stage the Bulldogs racked up eight uncontested marks inside their forward 50 (by the 11-minute mark of the term), with not a Hawks defender once inside a 5m radius of the marking Bulldogs player. Having been held goalless from the eight-minute mark of first term, the handful of travelling supporters finally had something to cheer about deep during “red time” when Laine Rasmussen kicked truly from close range at the Koombana Bay end of the ground. In the three-quarter-time huddle, both Hawks coach Matt Jamieson and selfless utility Simon Moore urged their side to fight the game out despite the sizeable deficit. A handful of forward line free kicks early in the final term enabled the visitors to garner some scoreboard pressure, however, the Bulldogs were never seriously threatened. Bulldogs coach Jamie Nani was all smiles in the rooms after the game. “The second quarter was outstanding,” he said. “It was probably the best footy I have seen us play in two years. It was pure work-rate from us today — absolutely outstanding.” For Hawks coach Matt Jamieson, it was a team performance which will not live long in the memory, although he praised the Bulldogs for their four-quarter effort. “It did fall away,” he said. “I think Bunbury were pretty hungry today. After having a pretty ordinary second half against Donnybrook, it was probably a game they should have won. “But they had a few new faces and just controlled the ball around the contest. “We know they work hard forward of the contest, but we just could not seem to get any physical pressure around the ball.”