By Marcus Uhe
On paper it presented as a daunting day for Pakenham.
But the end result had Ash Green’s men walking off the Kennel with their heads held high.
A trip through the long winding roads of the Dandenong Hills up to Wandin is an intimating mission at the best of times.
But when the undefeated Bulldogs are firing on all cylinders and kicking massive scores for fun…that’s not something anyone wants a part of.
Against Woori Yallock, Wandin had 28 shots on goal.
The week before, against Monbulk? 39. Narre Warren? 34. Mt Evelyn? 42.
Even without the injured Aaron Mullett, their next best option in the forward line in Clint Johnson won the goalkicking in Premier Division in 2022, and Tom Merlino buzzes at his feet.
Factor in the short ground and the ability to nail goals from long distance, and it can cause some sleepless nights.
Pakenham started the game positively and immediately made an impression in the middle of the ground.
Capitalising on the absence of Drew Benson in the ruck, D’Angelo Taito gave his midfielders first access in the centre of the ground.
Pakenham won the first four clearances of contest but were unable to turn those wins into scores.
A turnover from Jake Barclay in their forward line was whipped down the Clegg Road end with precision, Patrick Hodgett converting on the run.
Hodgett was a menace in the Wandin forward half.
The clever hit-up player, with a tank to envy and smarts to match, consistently makes good decisions with the ball in hand and was entrusted with making the all-important entry kick into the forward 50.
He had a hand in three of their four first-quarter goals as his side nullified Pakenham’s advantage in the centre by punishing them on the counter, as three Wandin goals in the opening term came directly from turnovers.
Pakenham was resolute behind the ball but where Wandin had Hodgett and Harrison Van Duuren kicking the ball into their forward 50, Pakenham were not as clinical.
The forward flank on the coaches’ box side of the ground must have been cursed before the game, with the propensity for players to fall over or butcher their kicks when pulling the trigger at an all-time high while looking to avoid the long kick to a contest as much as possible.
One way around that issue was to kick goals from inside the centre square, as Bailey Stiles did midway through the term.
Chayce Black was afforded way too much space in the opening half but not on this occasion when Stiles tackled him from behind at centre-half-back and converted the long set shot that he was awarded as a result.
A 21-point lead at quarter time quickly became 36 with a flurry of quick Wandin goals after quarter time.
An errant shepherd from Jackson Berry made connection above the shoulders with Cody Hirst as they were rebounding from the back half, and another turnover was punished by Jordan Jaworski.
The ball lived in the Wandin half the ground and a Pakenham forward entry felt as rare as sunshine in the late-autumn chill.
They were beneficiaries of Wandin’s inefficiency in front of goal and stemmed the tide midway through the term, but shot themselves in the foot with shallow entries inside forward 50.
Jonathan Cardamone reaped the rewards of a Taito tap in a forward half stoppage to peg one back, giving them something to show for a period in which they had negated the effectiveness of the high-powered Wandin office.
Stiles was everywhere and Barclay was logging a serious shift, while Jordan Stewart played his typical roaming role in putting out fires where they appeared in the back half.
There must have been concrete in the Gatorades at half time because both teams brought the physicality in the second half.
Jake Thompson shook off a high bump, Koby Grass became acquainted with an advertising panel on the fence and Tom Hillard’s courage saw him ruled out of the game with concussion after being crunched in a marking contest at half back.
Pakenham did its best to take the heat out of the contest by playing a slow, possession-based game and utilise the width of the ground to their advantage.
It was a proper stalemate for much of the quarter, and rare to see Wandin go for such a long period without hitting the scoreboard, as numbers behind the ball halted their surgical ball movement.
Stiles kicked his second of the game and the first from either side in the quarter in the 18th minute to end the deadlock, and shortly after Josh Haggar converted a free kick to bring Pakenham within striking distance.
Grass and James Harrison combining for a ferocious gang-tackle at half back showed their intent and appetite for the contest and squeezed restricted Wandin as far as they could go.
But for as much fight as they showed in the third quarter, Wandin’s stars stood up in the dying moments and equalised the scoreboard impact for the period.
Goals to Merlino and Patrick Bruzzese, the skipper’s coming after the siren, put a nail in Pakenham hearts and nullified their hard work.
Bruzzese’s was a captain’s goal in every sense, steadying the ship after a rough period of play to flatten the momentum Pakenham had established throughout the period.
Four goals to two in the final term killed any chance of a Pakenham comeback.
While they maintained their fight at the contest to the death, the star power of the Bulldogs proved too much.
Hirst, Black, Hodgett, Bruzzese and Connor Smith proved why they’re the best midfield in the game, and Clint Johnson finished the contest with four goals.
Depsite Wandin’s inaccuracy, a 13.17 95 to 6.10 46 scoreline appeared an appropriate reflection on the two-hour arm-wrestle.
For Pakenham, long stretches where they kept the Bulldogs at bay pleased Ash Green.
The challenge is turning patches of good football into quarters, and quarters into games.
“I thought the second half, our contested footy around the ball, and scoring opportunities were a lot better,” Pakenham’s senior coach said.
“We spoke to the guys at half time that we needed a bit more effort and to the boys’ credit, they did that.
“They kicked two goals in junk time, but we know our best footy can match the opposition and the better sides.
“If you put the scoreboard away, I thought we were very competitive in the second half.”
Turnovers and mistakes leading to opposition scores continue to plague his side, which he attributed to halting their momentum in the first half.
He’s hoping that the young group will learn from the mistakes as they continue to take the opportunities presented through injury.
“With blokes like Stephen Morey out and Ben McDonald injured, we’ve been able to give these guys opportunities and they’ve been able to flourish, which is fantastic and exciting to see,” he said.
“We’re up to round five now, so we expect consistency in every game we play, regardless of the opposition.
“I thought today that there were certainly more positives than negatives out of it.”
For Nick Adam, his side is riding high at 6-0 with an offence to die for and a defensive system that’s passing every test thrown their way.
He praised the work rate and effort of their opponent’s endeavour, having taken note of the positives in their losses to quality opponents to thus far.
“They’ve got footballers who maybe aren’t as talented as some of the guys that are rolling out for us, but they’re workers and they come,” the Wandin coach said.
“I watched them against Narre Warren and I talked to the boys about it today; they’ve been probably the most competitive side overall, against Narre Warren, since the competition merged.
“They turn up week in week out, and we knew that that would happen today.
“They worked really hard and challenged us around the contest and we probably didn’t take full advantage of our opportunities.”
Having made the perfect start to the campaign, the challenge now is to capitalise on their commanding position at the top of the table.
“We need to ensure that we get the full value out of the fact that we won those first five games against those other sides that, at the start of the year, were aiming to play finals,” Adam said.
“We‘ve got Upwey Tecoma and Gembrook Cockatoo and I think Gembrook Cockatoo beat Woori Yallock today.
“We need to bed-in the fact that we got to 5-0 by turning it into 8-0.”
On the injury front, Benson is expected to return next week, while Mullett will likely wait until after the King’s Birthday long weekend.
