Ground staff at Etihad Stadium were taking no chances with the unpredictable Melbourne weather after last Sunday's damp Geelong-North Melbourne clash and shut the roof nearly two hours before the game. It was open for the early, early, early optional warm up where a handful of players took to the field for a jog and kick around but with light showers punctuating the weather radar – and the brilliant sunshine the venue's concourse was bathed in before the game – there was no chance those in charge were going to risk soaking players and the 44,045 spectators for the second week running with a sudden downpour. Lucky, because as the game wore down, the heavens opened above the MCG and the Collingwood-Hawthorn clash starting down the road copped a sprinkling.

 

The Bulldogs' structure was thrown into disarray when tall forward and ruckman Ayce Cordy developed back tightness in the warm up. With the Dogs listing Jack Macrae, Lukas Markovic and Jason Johannisen as their emergencies, none of whom were suitable to play the type of role Cordy would have, they had to look outside the squad. Tom Campbell, who luckily didn't play in Williamstown's clash with Coburg on Saturday, was pulled into the side, which could end up costing the club up to $20,000. The Dogs face a financial sanction for breaching AFL regulations by including a player not named in the squad of 25, which makes Campbell's five disposals and five hit-outs quite expensive.

 

Richmond defender Bachar Houli played quite a good game but wanted to hide when he had the brain fade of the afternoon deep in the third quarter. After marking the ball in the Tigers' defensive pocket, Houli went to hit up a teammate across the face of goal. The result was an almost perfect pass to Bulldogs' forward Liam Jones, who looked quite surprised to be gifted the ball uncontested and right in front of goal. As Houli looked for a hole to hide in, Jones went back and booted his third of four goals.

 

In the first half, the Tigers' forward line often resembled that of an under-10s side with every player trying to be the hero and kick a goal without looking for a better option when the ball was thrust inside. They led by only 32 points at half-time despite smashing the Dogs in inside 50s, 34 to 14. While the scoreboard and stats sheet said otherwise, to that point the Dogs had some of the most important players on the ground with defender Dale Morris and his backline compatriots frustrating the life out of Jack Riewoldt and Luke McGuane in particular, with the two forwards giving away six of the Tigers' 17 free kicks against. Riewoldt ended with five goals - three in the last quarter - but handed off six free kicks while Ty Vickery had a goalless afternoon.  

 

And that's what it did for the Dogs on Sunday. After losing Cordy pre-game, Easton Wood – in his first game since he hurt his hamstring against Fremantle on March 11 in a NAB Cup match in Mandurah – lasted less than a quarter before he hobbled off, clutching the back of his left leg. With a history of hamstring injuries, the Dogs didn't waste time in substituting him out with Clay Smith injected as Wood sat on the bench with his head in his hands. Further compounding their worries was an ankle injury sustained by forward Tory Dickson in the fourth quarter that saw the mature-aged recruit helped off the field.