Second gamer, Jake Stringer looked nothing but assured in front of goals against Geelong on Saturday night - and after kicking three goals straight, his faith was not misplaced.

The top-ten draftee has an air of confidence about him but his goal nous has not come without a lot of practice.

“We’ve been working on it all pre-season, we have ten or 15 minutes after each session to do some goal kicking,” Stringer said.

“When you mark them you know when you can kick them and when you can’t, and I just believed I could and slotted a couple home.”

Playing out his first full game at senior level, Stringer’s defensive efforts proved beneficial against a well-drilled Geelong outfit.

“It was a quick game, Geelong are play on at every cost, so spent a lot of time chasing , but was lucky enough to get a couple out the back as well,” he said.

Stringer said the Bulldogs’ improvement in the second half - reducing the margin to 19 points in the fourth quarter – revolved around winning the hard ball.

“[It was] a consistent effort through the whole second half… [we received a] heap from the ball from the forwards, mids winning it through the clearances, and contested ball,” he said.