Hall was subbed off in the third term coach - Rodney Eade had said in the lead-up that he wouldn't play a full match - but had already shown more than enough to excite the Doggies faithful.
New Hawk Josh Gibson was flogged by Hall, who was an unstoppable force early, kicking four in the first term and using his 194cm, 104kg frame to lay several crunching tackles.
Teammate Daniel Giansiracusa told BigPond Sports Weekend that Hall brought plenty of positives.
"It was very exciting. We were having a chuckle on the bench when he snapped one around his body," he said.
"But the most pleasing thing was the tackle pressure that he brought - he laid a few big tackles.
"He's not going to kick six every week, but if he can put that pressure on and be that target for us ... We don't want to go to him all the time, but he moved really well."
Giansiracusa said Hall's break from footy had been good for the 33-year-old.
"They say that it can help you if you can have a little bit of time out of the game. Tadhg Kennelly at Sydney is saying he's fresher than ever.
"Barry's one of those guys that strips off really well. He's ripped, and he does everything right and trains with intensity.
"He scares us, and I'm sure he'll scare the opposition during the year."
But the high-profile Hall is not the only pickup the Dogs made in the off-season - Brodie Moles is a mature-age rookie who spent two years on the Geelong rookie list.
Friday night was his second good performance for the Dogs.
"I think we've found one there," Giansiracusa said.
"He's obviously been in a fantastic system, which is Geelong, and it's hard to get a game there, and he's definitely staking his claim to be put on the list and play senior footy with us.
"We played in the slop in Canberra two weeks ago, and he was a standout for us in terms of the cleanness of hands and stuff like that, and he's probably learned that at Geelong because that's the way they move the ball.
"We've got no doubt now, with the way he's performed over the last two weeks, that if he gets his chance he's going to be vital for us when he comes in."
