It was pleasing signs for Luke Beveridge in his first game at the helm, as his Dogs finished strongly to post a 22-point win against Richmond.
In a nostalgic return to Victoria University Whitten Oval, where an AFL match hadn’t been played since 1997, it was performances from his young side that had Bulldogs faithful cheering, but Beveridge says there are still patches of their game they will grow on.
“I was really happy with a lot of things but we’d like to think we can capitalise on things a bit better than we did today.”
Against a young Richmond side, the lead changed several times throughout the course of the match but after kicking the last five goals of the final term, the Bulldogs stormed home for the victory.
RECAP: Read the match report and watch highlights from the Bulldogs' 22-point win.
Beveridge was confident his side would continue to grow on their performance today in time for the season proper.
“We’ll get better, we weren’t that efficient in a few areas.
“We’ll get better next time against Melbourne, better again in the last NAB (Challenge) and hopefully by round one we’ll be even better.”
With Tom Boyd spending time in the ruck, Jack Redpath and Jake Stringer rotating through the midfield and forward line and Jordan Roughead floating from defence down forward, Beveridge was able to spread the load and stressed the importance of adaptability.
“It’s important that we’re more versatile and we get some experience into these young fellas.
“I was so happy with the way they reacted at the end of the game when they were under a little bit of duress, they did well to hold their nerve.”
VIDEO: Mitch Wallis speak to BulldogsTV in the rooms post match
