Bulldogs vs St Kilda

LIVE AFL: Saints in 'survival mode' after being 'slaughtered' in horror start.

It’s that going in the corridor when they don’t need to. “We know they want to take the corridor on. You need to be punchier than that,” commentator Daisy Pearce said. The Western Bulldogs (8-8, 110.4%) will be without star forward Aaron Naughton under the health and safety protocols. There were no late changes for either side. The Western Bulldogs started the must-win clash with St Kilda full of run, and punished the Saints at every opportunity.

Follow along for all the major moments and post-game reactions as the Bulldogs and Saints square off at Marvel Stadium in Friday night AFL.

Ben Long’s attack on the ball on the wing was excellent. Unlike much of the night, they took the game on and moved the ball quickly. Time is on the Dogs’ side.

FRIDAY night's clash between the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda is the closest thing you can get to an elimination final outside of September.

The Dogs will enter the crunch clash one game and some percentage out of the eight, and a loss would see them slip further down the ladder - and further away from finals. Both the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda sit just outside the top eight, and a loss for either side decreases their finals chance enormously. FRIDAY night's clash between the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda is the closest thing you can get to an elimination final outside of September.

Follow along for all the major moments and post-game reactions as the Bulldogs and Saints square off at Marvel Stadium in Friday night AFL.

We don’t look further than next week which is against the Melbourne. We have top eight teams and we want to finish in the eight, we have to beat those sides. I think we’ve been really disappointed with the way teams have been able to move through us in the last couple of weeks in particular. I think that is the recipe for going forward and how we want to play. I think the way teams are able to utilise their half-backs, it suits my strengths in a way. I think the midfield tonight obviously spent a lot of time forward early. Yeah, the way the half-back is played in this day and age, a very attacking position.

Follow along for all the major moments and post-game reactions as the Bulldogs and Saints square off at Marvel Stadium in Friday night AFL.

We don’t look further than next week which is against the Melbourne. We have top eight teams and we want to finish in the eight, we have to beat those sides. I think we’ve been really disappointed with the way teams have been able to move through us in the last couple of weeks in particular. I think that is the recipe for going forward and how we want to play. I think the way teams are able to utilise their half-backs, it suits my strengths in a way. I think the midfield tonight obviously spent a lot of time forward early. Yeah, the way the half-back is played in this day and age, a very attacking position.

ST KILDA coach Brett Ratten says the Saints are running out of chances to resurrect a season that saw them reach the mid-season bye at 8-3, but has now seen ...

Travvy Varcoe has been crook for a week and a half, we haven’t had him at the club, Matt Spangher’s got it so he wasn’t here tonight. A couple of the boys who played tonight were a bit late out of bed and tested a bit late. “We had a training session with the boys who didn’t play because there is a bye at state league level with our Footscray team. Our pressure was not to where we want it to be.” I think we had 11 tackles in the first half; it’s not where we want to be. “I thought the first five to ten minutes we were up for the fight.

The Western Bulldogs have defeated St Kilda by 28 points to keep their finals hopes alive.

It made a bad night even worse for the Saints, as the 34-year-old has been a force again this year and looked set to go on in 2023. Beveridge has been searching for enforcements all year to support Alex Keath and Ryan Gardner – who also shone playing against Max King – and he might have found one in the forward-turned-defender, finishing with 18 disposals and seven marks. The veteran ruckman has been managing Achilles soreness throughout the season and might be facing a race against the clock to return before the end of the home and away season. He looked rusty at times, but also looks primed to have a big say in the Western Bulldogs’ fortunes from now to the end of the season. This might go down to the wire like the final day of the Premier League season. The Western Bulldogs’ zone defence was a work of art, not even Ocean’s Eleven could have found a way to pick it apart.

AFL great David King blasted St Kilda as it suffered a dismal loss to the Western Bulldogs.

"I've said this for 18 months: when it works, it works big, and it works big for the same selfish players that want to get forward of the ball. It's fallen apart for St Kilda." "They have not fired a shot.