WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.6.2 0.10.4 0.12.5 0.18.7 (115) COLLINGWOOD 0.3.1 0.4.4 0.7.4 0.8.6 (54)
GOALS Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli 3, Goodes 2, Jong 2, Wallis 2, Redpath 2, Dickson 2, A.Cordy, Dahlhaus, T. Boyd, Stringer, Minson. Collingwood: Cloke 2, Greenwood, Adams, Varcoe, Swan, Pendlebury, Blair
BEST Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli, Macrae, Goodes, Jong, Murphy. Collingwood: Adams, Pendlebury, Williams, Frost, Brown.
Injuries: Western Bulldogs: Johannisen (head), Wood (head). Collingwood: Greenwood (right ankle)
Umpires: Bannister, Stephens, Jeffrey
Crowd: 10,457 at Etihad Stadium.
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Boom recruit Levi Greenwood will almost certainly miss Collingwood's season opener against the Brisbane Lions on April 4 after sustaining an ankle injury during their 61-point NAB Challenge loss to the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The former Kangaroo, who was signed by the Pies on a four-year deal, had to be helped from the ground by trainers in considerable pain during the third quarter and could not put any weight on his right leg as he hobbled to the rooms.
The 26-year-old was injured when he tackled an opponent in the centre square. The Bulldogs player landed awkwardly on Greenwood's leg, twisting his ankle.
Coach Nathan Buckley said the severity of the injury wouldn't be known for a few days at least.
"We don't know how severe it is but [it was] bad enough for him to not be able to play on," Buckley said post-match.
"We'll have to go and assess that but it's likely to [force Greenwood to] miss weeks – we just don't know how many."
Buckley admitted his midfield was now less settled than it was a fortnight ago, and with Greenwood and Brent Macaffer unavailable to fulfil their tagging role due to injury, the Pies would probably turn to Taylor Adams or Jack Crisp to do so.
An extended absence for Greenwood would be a huge blow for Collingwood with captain Scott Pendlebury earmarking him as a direct replacement for Dayne Beams, who went to Brisbane.
It capped off a dirty night for the Magpies who were run off their feet by the Bulldogs.
Luke Beveridge's men burst out of the blocks with five of the first six goals, including a pair to Brett Goodes, and by the time they piled on another five consecutive majors either side of quarter-time they held a 43-point advantage.
Based on this performance, life without Tom Liberatore, Ryan Griffen, Adam Cooney and Daniel Giansiracusa might not be as gloomy for the Dogs as first thought.
The victory was built on the efforts of back-to-back top picks Marcus Bontempelli, who had 29 touches, nine tackles and three goals, and Jackson Macrae (31 disposals). Both simply did as they pleased in the midfield and were instrumental in the Dogs' dominant first half, in particular.
The Dogs were also well served by solid defensive performances from skipper Bob Murphy, Michael Talia and Jordan Roughead and rookie Goodes strengthened his case for an upgrade to the senior list in time for round one with 19 touches and two goals.
Hard nut Lin Jong (two goals) and Luke Dahlhaus were also valuable contributors with 20 and 32 disposals respectively.
Collingwood could not cope with the Bulldogs' pressure and of huge concern for coach Nathan Buckley is that the only top-liners missing were Ben Reid, Lachie Keeffe and Ben Macaffer.
Taylor Adams (31 touches), Pendlebury (28) and Marley Williams (27) stood out for the Magpies while Jack Frost and Nathan Brown combined to limit the influence of Bulldogs key forwards Jack Redpath and Tom Boyd.
But there wasn't a lot to smile about for Collingwood who were shaded by their hungrier opponents in disposals (418-382), clearances (45-39), inside 50s (54-49), contested possessions (164-155) and tackles (94-85).
