Marcus Bontempelli may be the best player in the competition, but he isn’t the most valuable player to the Western Bulldogs’ hopes.
On Saturday night at Adelaide Oval, it was the lack of having ruckman Tim English in the side that left the club exposed.
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Hawthorn rucks Ned Reeves and Lloyd Meek feasted all night long as they combined for an astounding 64 hit-outs compared to only 17 for the Dogs.
That aerial dominance saw the Hawks finish the contest with a 43-31 clearance advantage as they secured the 15.14 (104) to 8.16 (64).
Two-time premiership star for North Melbourne David King slammed the Dogs for their decision to enter the highly-anticipated clash without a genuine ruck.
“When you come in without a recognised ruckman, you pay full price in modern footy. Meek has been angry tonight, he’s the Meek of old,” King said on Fox Footy at halftime.
“Him and Reeves have taken full control – nine hit-outs to advantage to zero. Around the ground, the clearances are 20-14 (Hawthorn’s way).
“The Hawks are having their way with them. I don’t know how Luke Beveridge can address that. he can throw Rory Lobb in there but let’s be honest, he’s not gong to be able to compete against those two either.
“It’s probably the greatest challenge a coach can have, not have a ruckman who can engage in the fight.”
Things got even worse for the Dogs in the dying stages of the contest with star midfielder Ed Richards hobbling from the field.
The 26-year-old entered the contest under an injury cloud with a knee before he was left in serious pain with what appeared to be another leg/knee injury.
“He’s in real trouble. Gee, this is sad,” King said.
Anthony Hudson added: “Trained freely at the main session, so they cleared him to play. No one wants to see that. Literally adding injury to insult.
“Hard to watch, he’s in that much pain.”
The loss is the first on the season for the Dogs and drops them down to fourth on the ladder behind the Swans, Dockers and Hawks.
They’ll look to bounce back next Friday night when they venture into Geelong for a clash against the Cats while the Hawks will look to make it five straight wins when they take on Port Adelaide.
