At stages, Houston was nominally playing on Joe Berry and Joe Richards, two players involved in the blockbuster mega deal that sent him to Collingwood, and Sam Powell-Pepper. We say nominally because half-backs of his quality generally afford scant respect for their opponents – unless made to do so by a well-oiled opposition that plays through their man. Port were a long way from this.
A two-time All Australian half-back, Houston calms teammates and fans alike when he has the ball. They know he will invariably find a teammate in a more dangerous part of the ground. In space, Houston seldom wastes the ball, and he also has the calmness to extricate himself from traffic.
Carlton, a club he had been heavily linked to in the trade period, were crying out for a player of such composure two nights earlier at this venue.
“When you have someone come to your club you have this great optimism about what they’ll bring,” McRae said. “But when they’re in your system you go ‘whoa, he’ll make a difference’.
“Not only does he win the ball in the air, he wins it on the ground and then he uses the ball ridiculously well. Rare talent, we’re very happy to have him.”
Houston, through his high footy IQ, improves teammates through his on-field direction.
“I’ve such admiration for him because he gets so much of the football, and it’s so damaging when he gets it, but he never compromises on defence,” Magpies half-back Isaac Quaynor said.
“That’s the sign of a really good defender who can attack as well. His knowledge of that half-back role is as good as I’ve seen. His ability to control and put people in the right positions around him is huge.”
The move to start veteran Scott Pendlebury in the sub’s vest was not a knee-jerk reaction in the search for more speed, McRae said, but a plan hatched a month ago to get through back-to-back six-day breaks.
Last week, no Pie attended more centre bounces than Pendlebury. Against Port, better runners like Ned Long and Steele Sidebottom were given more of the action.
“To be honest, I was keen to sub him last week,” McRae said. “This time of the year, it’s summer footy. It’s a different game. It’s transitional … and you want transitional runners. Last week we went with the intention of that, and we didn’t execute.”
Another recruit, Tim Membrey, atoned for his first-up fizzer with four goals, including three in the first term. The combination of Dan McStay, Membrey and Brody Mihocek, along with Jamie Elliott as the hybrid will cause teams headaches when the Pies are on song.
Grey area in rules exposed in huge clash as Bulldogs celebrate win
The injury-hit Western Bulldogs will need to find two more replacements for their huge clash against Collingwood next Friday night after defenders James O’Donnell and Luke Cleary both went to hospital after the club’s gritty win over North Melbourne.
O’Donnell has a suspected fractured jaw while Cleary was concussed in a sickening clash with North Melbourne defender Jackson Archer that had both coaches concerned about his wellbeing.
Luke Cleary was stretchered off the ground at Marvel Stadium.Credit: Getty Images
The young defender, in just his eighth game, was taken to hospital in an ambulance after Archer’s knee collected his head as Cleary tumbled off-balance into a contest for the loose ball with Kangaroos’ forward Jacob Konstanty on his hammer.
“From where I was it just looked like a bad crash and players went hard and Luke has come off second best,” Beveridge said.
Clarkson also said his main concern was that Cleary was OK and without having seen the replay he described the incident was an unfortunate collision in the game.
“They’re both young players trying to make their way in the game. There is no malice in it whatsoever,” Clarkson said.
“One is coming in hard to compete and the other guy is going in low.”
Laitham Vandermeer was excellent in the Bulldogs win over North MelbourneCredit: via Getty Images
He said it was one of the grey areas in the rules of the game with players encouraged to keep their feet, although he emphasised Cleary had little option but to do what he did.
“If you decide to go in low it better not be that take the legs of the opposition. If you stay upright though in terms of Archer coming in you run the risk of someone being lower and you hit them in the head with your legs. It’s a really, really difficult one,” Clarkson said.
The incident was an indication of the desperation both teams showed with the Bulldogs missing class players and North Melbourne still trying to lift themselves off the bottom.
Beveridge said he put the onus on his team to lift their work rate inside the contest after half-time because North Melbourne were on top in centre clearances and contested possession.
He praised Tom Liberatore – who was the Bulldogs captain in Marcus Bontempelli’s absence – for his grit in the middle at the start of the last quarter. He managed to keep the ball going the Bulldogs way to enable them to kick the first three goals of the final quarter and open up a big enough lead to hang on.
Finn O’Sullivan was excellent in his first game of AFLCredit: Getty Images
“We felt that ‘Libba’ did lift,” Beveridge said. “In then end when we needed a little bit of a pulse it felt like he and Ed [Richards] and Joel Freijah around the ball, they really helped us.”
Freijah’s effort to play in the midfield in just his 14th match was outstanding while Ryley Sanders, who kicked the first two goals of his career in what was his 15th match, played a key role in helping the team to victory.
Clarkson said the Bulldogs were better at releasing teammates into space through handball than the Kangaroos.
“That is why they were ultimately able to get some really, really good looks at the footy when they went inside 50,” Clarkson said.
Nick Larkey, who went into the game with a corked calf, was impressive kicking five goals, but Cam Zurhaar’s inaccuracy let the Bulldogs off the hook as he kicked 1.4. Jack Darling played his role well and kicked two goals.
North Melbourne lost Griffin Logue to a hamstring injury late in the game however Jy Simpkin managed to play well after entering the match under a cloud due to a tight hamstring.
The Bulldogs managed to get three goals apiece out of Aaron Naughton and Laitham Vandermeer and both looked dangerous while Rory Lobb stood up in the final quarter despite copping as many knocks in the first hour as a bumper bombarded opening batsman.
Beveridge said sharing the midfield load will be crucial with none of their stars due back from injury for the huge game against Collingwood next Friday night when the club celebrates being in the competition for 100 years.
“One hundred years for us is a century of hard work…it’s a big week of celebration and we’ll hopefully carry some momentum into that game against the Pies,” Beveridge said.
