Potent Bulldogs enjoy goal feast

Bunbury improved to 3-0 after thrashing an out-of-sorts Eaton Boomers by 60 points at Payne Park on Sunday. Aside from an early challenge from the visitors, the Bulldogs were able to adapt the heavy conditions quickly and put their rivals out of business by half-time. Following his side’s win in round one over Augusta-Margaret River, Bulldogs coach Jamie Nani told the Bunbury Herald he was keen for his midfielders to hit the scoreboard more often this season. Well, Nani got his wish on Sunday, as his side contained nine individual goalkickers. “The last couple of weeks I have told them to hit the scoreboard — but not so much when you are resting forward, but more so when you are on the ball,” he said. “They did that and once again I do not think we had any passengers today. “That is a pleasing thing when you go to pick the best players. You say ‘wow, who do you pick?’ so it is a very stable side at the moment.” Nani also praised influential big man Jacob Williams, who worked hard despite the Boomers rotating several players on him in the ruck. For the Boomers players and coach Darren Rigby, it was a rough afternoon. Following Tanner Allen’s goal at the 18-minute mark of the first term, the Boomers were held goalless for two entire quarters, before Jarrad Fazioli broke the drought as the clock ticked into time on late in the third term. Rigby and his players formed a tight huddle in the middle of Payne Park for five minutes after the final siren, before heading to the changerooms. Although there was no ranting or raving, it was evident the Boomers coach was keen to debrief with his players about how the match slipped away from them. “It was basically about what we need to do when the weather was like it transpired really,” he said. “Both sides started similarly. We could not get the ball in the slippery conditions and Bunbury were able to adjust to those conditions a lot better than what we did. “They were able to do that a lot faster and in fact, we did not adjust.” The Boomers, who dropped to seventh after the defeat, host Busselton at Glen Huon Reserve on Saturday, which is looming as a proverbial “eight point” contest given the mid-table logjam.