‘Punch in the face’: Dogs deliver brutal reality check, NBA taunt in Bombers ‘training run’

The Western Bulldogs have delivered Essendon a brutal 91-point reality check in the most one-sided encounter we’ve seen in 2025.

Remarkably, the margin could have been bigger given the 18.19 (127) to 5.6 (36) result – making the Dogs now the only side to record two 90-point plus beltings so far this season.

It was a one-way training run for the Dogs from the opening bounce as they opened up a 10-goal to one half time buffer to effectively seal the match.

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Bailey Dale set a new club record for the most disposals, overtaking the 47 set by both Ryan Griffin and Jack Macrae to finish with 49.

He also set an AFL record for 2025 with 1016 metres gained.

Rhylee West also had a career-best night with four goals from his 19 disposals and at one point hit the Bombers with an NBA-inspired ‘too small’ taunt.

The only sour note was a hamstring injury to Arty Jones who was subbed out before half time.

For the Bombers, there were shades of their 2019 disaster against the Dogs when they managed just the one goal to half time.

To their credit, Essendon continued to fight – but still recorded their second worst ever total in a loss to the Bulldogs.

THE 3-2-1…

3. ONE-WAY TRAFFIC FOR AFL’S ‘GLOBETROTTERS’

The Western Bulldogs were emphatic winners over Essendon on Saturday night, recording the biggest winning margin so far in 2025.

The 91-point win highlighted just how dominant the Dogs are across the ground as they won every facet of the contest.

The AFL’s number one ranked scoring side in the past five matches showed exactly why they are so dangerous – eclipsing their average of 112 points.

Fox Footy’s Nathan Buckley even described the side as the AFL’s “Globetrotters”.

In the demolition of the Dons, there were two standouts – Bailey Dale racking up a club-best 49 disposals: eclipsing the 47 record set by Ryan Griffin and Jack Macrae.

But most impressive was the work of the “re-cast” Rhylee West.

The makeshift forward finished with a team-high four goals in an eye catching display.

“He’s so combative, you’ve got to love how he goes about it,” Buckley praised.

“He would be a frustrated midfielder – someone who wasn’t able to make it and push into the midfield.

“But he’s been re-cast and he’s accepted that role. He became a stopper … now he’s a stopper, a competitor and a goal scorer.

“He’s been exceptional.”

West was so impressive, he even rolled out the famed ‘too small’ celebration for the career-best equalling fourth goal.

2. WHERE TO FOR THE BOMBERS?

Form is a funny thing.

Essendon went in to Saturday night’s contest with five wins from their past six games and appeared ready to test themselves against a strong Bulldogs outfit.

But what we got instead was an Essendon that simply rolled over and failed to stop the Bulldogs’ charge.

Brownlow Medallist Nathan Buckley said the 91-point belting sent a “fairly clear message”.

“You come up against the best sides in the competition and you get an audit of your own game,” Buckley explained.

“Essendon, despite what they’ve put together in the last six weeks, have been given a fairly clear message that there’s still a lot of work to do in most phases.

“That will be the licking of the wounds during the week and working out, ‘OK, where do we go from here?’.”

Fellow commentator Anthony Hudson described Saturday night’s loss as a “bit of a punch in the face”.

Of those five wins, they all came against sides currently outside the top eight – and against four of the bottom five in Port Adelaide, Melbourne, West Coast, North Melbourne and Sydney.

1. ‘DIDN’T LIKE THAT’ – DISCIPLINE COSTS DONS

The flashpoint for the first term was when Laitham Vandermeer absolutely sucked Bomber Mason Redman in and as a result, was gifted a double goal in stunning scenes at Marvel Stadium.

The crowd could only boo when replays of the moment flashed up on the screen – such as the simple nature of the second shot on goal.

Vandermeer had been the player to win the footy inside forward 50 which resulted in Lachlan McNeil’s goal.

But what followed could be deemed an embarrassment for the AFL.

Vandermeer made contact with Redman from behind, leading the Bombers defender to throw an arm back.

Fox Footy’s Nathan Buckley said the Bulldog “dropped like a sack of spuds” and that was enough to draw the free kick and second shot on goal – which he converted.

The moment left AFL great Jason Dunstall clearly unimpressed.

“I look forward to seeing what the contact is like because it’s a severe penalty to pay,” he said.

“Oh my goodness.” (He said after the replay showed the contact)

“Someone shot him, I think, as well,” Buckley added.

“Particularly when you initiate the contact – I’ve got to be honest… I’m with the crowd (booing). I didn’t like that at all.”

“It’s done now isn’t it?” Buckley said.

“That double goal really hurts on the scoreboard.”

Essendon didn’t learn from their mistakes with Will Setterfield coughing up another goal when he opted to make minimal contact on Dog Ed Richards – but he paid a hefty price.

Aaron Naughton took the resulting free kick inside 50 and threaded the needle for his side’s ninth goal.

“There’s not much in that,” Jason Dunstall said.

“I don’t like these down the field free kicks personally.

“That’s slow motion and it still didn’t look late.

“If you’re diving and you’re not going to get there before he kicks, you’ve got to basically somehow twist your body out of the way and not make contact.”

Nathan Buckley agreed the contact looked like it was “in the flow of play” – regardless it proved costly for Essendon.

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