A consistent team defensive effort from the Footscray Bulldogs saw them defeat Richmond by 62 points in the VFL practice match at Victoria University Whitten Oval last Friday night.
The Bulldogs contained Richmond for much of the four quarters match, however were unable to translate this to a scoreboard advantage early missing opportunities in front of goals.
Finishing with the wind behind them, Footscray kicked seven unanswered goals in the final term to runaway with the win – their first of the pre-season.
Development Manager Chris Maple said Footscray were consistent in their application across the four quarters, chipping away at Richmond with their defensive pressure and contested work.
“It was a very contested game of footy, due to the wind,” Maple said.
“We were pretty happy with the boys, their contested footy was really good, our stoppages and clearances were good as well and we out-tackled our opposition.”
Assuming on-field roles they hope to make their own at AFL level, a host senior-listed players capitalised on the hit-out to put forward their case for a round two call-up to play North Melbourne on Sunday.
“We got a good chance to look at our AFL boys in the positions we wanted to play them in and some of our VFL boys were able to play against some good company – which was exciting for them,” he said.
“Some of our VFL-listed players did really well which we were really pleased with – it was a win-win on both sides.”
Crediting Alex Greenwood as a standout, Maple said a number of the Bulldogs’ AFL-listed players competed strongly in the match.
“I was really happy with Alex Greenwood’s game, I thought he had a very balanced game both in attack and defensively,” he said.
“It was great to see Clay Smith back in action and Christian Howard, who have both had interrupted pre-seasons with injury, so very good to see those guys getting in and doing well.
“It’s exciting for Lin Jong once again, who had a great pre-season, to see Marcus Bontempelli run around with the boys again and Liam Jones was also quite impressive.”
It wasn’t just the senior listed players who contributed on the day with the Footscray Bulldogs Coach also commending a number of VFL-listed players in their roles.
“From our VFL-listed players Darcy Fort came up against [Richmond’s] Orren Stephenson – one of the premier VFL ruckmen over the past few years – and competed really well against him,” he said.
“Jase Perkins kicked a few goals which was impressive, while Todd Finco came on and really shone in the second half and showed some speed and dash.
“Nick Lower was really tough inside and had some good clearances.”
VFL practice match results:
Footscray Bulldogs 16. 13. (109) defeated Richmond VFL 7. 5. (47)
Goals: J Perkins 4, M Bontempelli 2, N Hrovat 2, L Jones 2, F Roberts 2, A Greenwood, C Howard, L Jong, D Pearce
Best: A Greenwood, M Bontempelli, C Smith, L Jong, L Jones, J Perkins, D Fort
