Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nPlenty of the Dogs\u2019 lesser lights shone including thee goals apiece to Jordan Croft and Arthur Jones.<\/p>\n
Ryley Sanders (26 disposals) was also enjoying a big night across midfield and halfback before a concussion forced him to exit early after a ball was kicked into his face. It rules out the young gun for next week\u2019s season Opening Clash with back-to-back premier Brisbane.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn could also be down a couple of soldiers in Opening Round and leave a midfield already missing Will Day even more undermanned.<\/p>\n
Cam Mackenzie also failed a concussion test for a tackle gone wrong on Croft, meaning the emerging Hawks midfielder will miss next Saturday\u2019s season-opening clash with GWS. <\/p>\n
Plus Hawthorn co-captain Jai Newcombe will be sweating on MRO results for a dangerous tackle on Ed Richards.<\/p>\n
Newcombe had one of Richards\u2019 arms pinged as he drove the Bulldogs jet into the ground, though Richards was able to play on unaffected. <\/p>\n
So does Newcombe have anything to worry about?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first view is I think he\u2019s OK. The outcome is really important in most of these things,\u201d former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s tackled him fairly and taken him down with natural force. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s an over the top sling or anything like that. I doubt he gets in too many troubles for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demons great Garry Lyon suggested it \u201cticks a lot of boxes for a suspension apart from the fact (Richards) got up and played on\u201d .<\/p>\n
\u201cI know we ask a lot. But the way it\u2019s described to us is he has to identity he has one arm where he can\u2019t move and he takes him to ground and his head hits the ground,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom that point of view, a lot those boxes were ticked. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut the fact that Ed Richards jumps up and plays on suggests he\u2019ll be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 3-2-1 (what we learned) …<\/p>\n
3. \u2018SUPERB\u2019 ENGLISH MANHANDLES HAWKS<\/p>\n
Tim English is ready for a massive 2026.<\/p>\n
The star Bulldogs ruckman was his side\u2019s best on Friday night in a dominant performance to suggest he\u2019s going to relish with the new ruck rules and more open style. <\/p>\n
Back from State of Origin duties for Western Australia, English accumulated 23 disposals, 29 hit-outs, six marks and two goals<\/p>\n
It included a particularly dominant third quarter where he kicked those two goals from eight disposals and seemed to manhandle anyone that went near him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s his quality, we see his best games are like this. This one\u2019s probably as good as any I\u2019ve seen him play,\u201d former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love when you see a player want to own the game and that\u2019s what he did in that third quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said: \u2018Whatever you put on me, it\u2019s not good enough. I\u2019m going to take you and I\u2019ll take you where I want to go\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really did control the narrative of his position … and they wouldn\u2019t get near him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geary excited for Dogs aspirations in 26 | 03:33<\/p>\n
English\u2019s dominant third term prompted Garry Lyon to throw big challenge to Hawthorn counterpart Lloyd Meek. <\/p>\n
\u201cLloyd Meek, take this personally now,\u201d Lyon said on commentary after English\u2019s third-quarter goal when he grabbed the ball out of the ruck and snapped truly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to take this personally now. Tim English is handing it to you at the moment … Lloyd Meek has barely had an impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to try and stretch him the other way. Take it personally, see what sort of response you get.\u201d<\/p>\n
And no matter who Hawthorn threw at English, with Meek, Mabior Chol and Josh Weddle rotating in the ruck, the Bulldogs beast couldn\u2019t be stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just feeling it, sometimes in footy you don\u2019t get to feel it like this,\u201d Lyon continued during the third quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s running forward at every opportunity, finding the ball, doing his own clearance work from centre bounce \u2014 he\u2019s just looked superb.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019ve loved most is he\u2019s looked at the three Hawthorn ruckmen they\u2019ve tried against him and he\u2019s just said: \u2018Nup, good luck going with me\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s playing like he\u2019s the best player in the comp. Which, he\u2019s clearly not, but that\u2019s the sort of mentality he\u2019s taken. Which I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. \u2018REALLY GOOD STORYLINES EMERGE\u2019 FOR RISING DOGS<\/p>\n
While English was the Dogs\u2019 best, there was plenty of other things to like about Luke Beveridge\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
Most notably the emergence of several new-age Dogs that look like they\u2019re ready to blossom.<\/p>\n
Jordan Croft kicked all three of his goals in the first quarter and a bit, while Arthur Jones added three majors too and was dangerous around goal all night. <\/p>\n
\u201cLove Jones, he\u2019s a player I think needs a bit of belief he belongs at the level. I think he can be a really good small forward,\u201d former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
Hinkley pointed out that with Sam Darcy still to return from injury, \u201cthe future looks pretty bright for their key forwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melbourne great Garry Lyon said Croft, who played in the Dogs\u2019 final two games of 2025, is \u201creal talent\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been patient with him and it\u2019s a hard forward line to get yourself involved in, he did late in the year and he burst onto the scene,\u201d Lyon said of the 20-year old.<\/p>\n
Adrian pays full credit to the Bulldogs | 02:17<\/p>\n
The emergence of Croft would also help offset the loss of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Ryley Sanders (26 disposals) was also busy through the midfield and across half back before his night came to a halt in the fourth quarter due to concussion. <\/p>\n
And Michael Sellwood, Buku Khamis and recruit Connor Budarick were all rock solid in defence.<\/p>\n
Such names going to another level could well be the difference in making the Bulldogs a legit contender in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some really good storylines emerging out of this,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSanders has been really good, English is the story. And I think (Jones) is every bit the dangerous small forward clubs crave.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there\u2019s Bulldogs fans out there desperate for one of these boys to step up and play this role, he\u2019s giving every indication tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. WATSON WIZARDY \u2018TO CREATE ALL SORTS OF HEADACHES\u2019<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a great night for Hawthorn overall, but Nick Watson was \u201cthe shining light.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018The Wizard\u2019 provided his usual highlights including an epic hanger in the third quarter to go with two goals.<\/p>\n
He was Hawthorn\u2019s biggest X-factor and sparkplug in a reminder that he only needs a moment or two to put his mark on a game.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been the shining light for the Hawthorn footy club tonight. There\u2019s no ceiling for Nick Watson,\u201d Melbourne great Garry Lyon said after Watson\u2019s epic mark.<\/p>\n
Now donning the No. 5 \u2014 a number previously worn by his coach Sam Mitchell \u2014 the 21-year old looks primed for a big 2026.<\/p>\n
Watson reacts to Mark of the Pre-Season | 01:24<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to create all sorts of headaches this year,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in ripping nick, he\u2019s in absolutely cherry ripe nick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to fill out that No. 5 guernsey pretty well. There\u2019s been some all-time greats at the Hawthorn footy club wear that number, it seems to me to be in pretty good hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat one seems to be a perfect fit right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The evergreen Jack Gunston also looks ready to back up his career-best 2026 by booting a team-high three goals, with the Hawks veteran and Watson their two most likely types on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Former Port Adelaide coach Hinkley was also full of praise for Watson after he launched a long-range goal early in the third term.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Watson) is such a small man and he can kick that ball easily 55-60 metres without too many problems at all,\u201d Hinkley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very, very special player. He\u2019s going to be a player everyone is going to love to watch over the next 10 years, me included.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tim English and the blistering Western Bulldogs made a pre-season statement with a dominant 44-point win over fellow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":507631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[24777,254759,638,67818,64,63,689,55,639,77700,684,651,254771,254761,252220,12183,254766,254767,667,10145,107302,6854,7492,12102,19100,254757,69388,51310,7484,254762,12096,663,14402,611,14360,254758,3530,677,6082,254760,68849,254769,243729,19068,12105,12936,254765,1124,254768,85,254763,254764,254770,3439,698],"class_list":{"0":"post-507630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-aami-community","9":"tag-adrian-hickmott","10":"tag-afl","11":"tag-arthur-jones","12":"tag-au","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","15":"tag-australian-football-league","16":"tag-australianfootballleague","17":"tag-back-to-back-premier","18":"tag-ben-cotton","19":"tag-brisbane","20":"tag-bullying-blitz","21":"tag-clearance-work","22":"tag-community-series","23":"tag-dominant-performance","24":"tag-epic-hanger","25":"tag-epic-mark","26":"tag-footy-club","27":"tag-garry-lyon","28":"tag-gary-lyon","29":"tag-hawthorn","30":"tag-hawthorn-hawks","31":"tag-jack-gunston","32":"tag-jai-newcombe","33":"tag-jarryn-geary","34":"tag-jordan-croft","35":"tag-josh-weddle","36":"tag-ken-hinkley","37":"tag-legit-contender","38":"tag-lloyd-meek","39":"tag-luke-beveridge","40":"tag-mabior-chol","41":"tag-mark","42":"tag-michael-sellwood","43":"tag-natural-force","44":"tag-nick-watson","45":"tag-oceania","46":"tag-port-adelaide","47":"tag-pre-season-statement","48":"tag-real-talent","49":"tag-rock-solid","50":"tag-ruck-rules","51":"tag-ryley-sanders","52":"tag-sam-darcy","53":"tag-sam-mitchell","54":"tag-shining-light","55":"tag-south-australia","56":"tag-special-season","57":"tag-sports","58":"tag-suspension-concerns","59":"tag-third-quarter-goal","60":"tag-v-hawthorn-hawks","61":"tag-western-australia","62":"tag-western-bulldogs"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/507631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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