International coverage

First quarter

Easton Wood won the coin toss for the Bulldogs and chose to kick towards the city end. The Swans had an early injury scare when Lance Franklin was taken off the field with a suspected foot injury after four minutes; he returned later in the quarter and played out the full game, but needed medical attention at quarter time. The Swans were the first to score (a behind) in the 10th minute with Kieren Jack taking a courageous mark before colliding into the incoming Wood.^[27] The first goal came in the thirteenth minute to the Swans as Luke Parker scored from a distance of 35 m (38 yd). The Bulldogs' first score came in the 20th minute, when Zaine Cordy scored a goal from the boundary line; three minutes later, the Bulldogs scored again via a mark from Tory Dickson, to take a four point lead. There were no other scores in the low-scoring first quarter, and the Bulldogs led 2.0 (12) to 1.2 (8) at quarter time.^[28]

Second quarter

In a much more high scoring second quarter, goals came at regular intervals. Tom Boyd opened the scoring for the Bulldogs after three minutes. Nick Smith kicked Sydney's second goal in the 6th minute, before two goals to the Bulldogs from Dickson (10th minute) and Liam Picken (12th minute) extended the Bulldogs' lead to 16 points. Sydney then put on a run of four consecutive goals in eight minutes to take an 8 point lead: Tom Mitchell (13th minute); Gary Rohan (16th minute); and two to Josh Kennedy (18th and 20th minutes), whose work in the midfield was also largely responsible for the Swans revival, with 22 first half disposals. The Bulldogs fought back in time-on, Tom Boyd kicking his second goal for the Bulldogs in the 27th minute, Tom Mitchell kicking his second for Sydney in the 29th minute, and Toby McLean kicking his first for the Bulldogs in the 32nd minute. At half time, Sydney led by two points, 7.3 (45) to 7.1 (43).^[28]

Third quarter

Dickson kicked his third goal to take the lead for the Bulldogs after four minutes. Thereafter began an arm-wrestle of a quarter, in which only two more goals were kicked: in the 17th minute, Toby McLean conceded a fifty metre penalty against Kennedy for a late bump in a marking contest, and Kennedy converted the kick into his third goal, giving Sydney a 1-point lead; three minutes later, Clay Smith kicked a goal for the Bulldogs. For the remainder of the quarter, the Bulldogs attacked relentlessly, managing four behinds but no further goals. At three quarter time, the Bulldogs 9.7 (61) led Sydney 8.5 (53) by eight points.^[28]

After accurate goalkicking had dominated the first half, the third quarter saw several missed shots on goal for both teams, but particularly for the Bulldogs – who dominated general play but managed only 2.6 (18) for the quarter to Sydney's 1.2 (8). Bulldogs' forward Jake Stringer was particularly off target, with one behind and three shots out of bounds on the full to this point in the game.^[28]

Final quarter

Early in the final quarter, Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery suffered an injury to his left knee when he collided awkwardly with Easton Wood who had gone in low to claim the ball on the ground. He was promptly helped off the field for treatment and attempted to continue playing after having his knee strapped, only to return to the bench after taking a free kick with the injured leg.^[29]

Despite this, Sydney attacked early, and when Lance Franklin kicked his first goal – the first and only goal kicked by one of the Swans recognised forwards in the match – the Bulldogs' lead was narrowed to one point. Jake Stringer extended the margin to 7 points with his only goal in the 11th minute, and George Hewett scored another for the Swans to draw the margin back to 1 point in the 13th minute, the score at that stage reading Bulldogs 10.7 (67) leading Sydney 10.6 (66).

With only seven minutes of playing time remaining, Liam Picken kicked his second goal from a broken play in the Bulldogs forward line in the 18th minute to extend the margin to 7 points. The Bulldogs attacked again from the next centre bounce, and a minute later, Jason Johannisen pounced on an errant Sydney rebound and kicked a score from 50m which was initially called a goal, but changed to a behind on video review after being touched on the goal line by Jeremy Laidler (Sydney). The ensuing kick-in was turned over, resulting in another touched behind to the Bulldogs. Then, in the 22nd minute, Dale Morris (Bulldogs) tackled Lance Franklin in the centre square, and Tom Boyd gathered the loose ball to kick his third goal and put the Bulldogs 15 points ahead with five minutes to play.^[28]

Sydney won the ensuing centre clearance, ending with Ben McGlynn mark and set shot from 40m which missed narrowly to the left. It was Sydney's last score and last time inside its attacking 50m arc, as the Bulldogs rebounded, and finished with three more scores: a behind to Boyd, Liam Picken's third goal in the 27th minute, and a behind on the final siren to Toby McLean. The Bulldogs kicked 3.4 (22) against Sydney's 0.1 (1) in the final seven minutes of playing time, and won the game 13.11 (89) d. 10.7 (67).

Norm Smith Medal

Jason Johannisen was named the Norm Smith Medallist (best on ground) with ten votes, having spend much of the game playing a rebounding role across the middle of the ground, accumulating 33 possessions and launching nine inside 50s. Johannisen won the award ahead of Sydney midfielder Josh Kennedy with eight votes (34 disposals and 3 goals), Tom Boyd with seven votes (6 contested marks and 3 goals) and Liam Picken with five votes (25 disposals, 3 goals).^[30]

Chaired by Michael Voss, the voters and their choices were as follows:^[31]

Presentation

During the official on-field presentation, Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge invited injured Bulldogs' captain Bob Murphy – a popular Bulldogs' stalwart who had played with the club continuously since 2000, but who had missed all but the first three games of the premiership season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament – onto the podium. Beveridge then gave his own Jock McHale medal to Murphy, and urged Murphy to hoist the premiership trophy alongside acting captain Easton Wood instead of following the tradition of the captain and coach hoisting the cup.^[32] Murphy chose to return the medal to Beveridge the following day, and Beveridge then donated the medal to the Western Bulldogs club museum.^[33]