NAB CHALLENGE RESULTS
Brisbane 7.14 (56) d Hawthorn 6.9 (45) at Southport.
Adelaide 12.11 (83) d Carlton 11.16 (82) at Princes Park.
Sydney 14.15 (99) d North Melbourne 8.9 (57) at Narranderra.
Geelong 14.12 (96) d Fremantle 10.5 (65) at Fremantle Oval.
West Coast 18.16 (124) d Melbourne 12.14 (86) at Casey Fields.
Essendon 23.9 (147) d Richmond 11.7 (73) at Morwell.
Collingwood 27.16 (178) d Port Adelaide 15.7 (97) at Mt Gambier.
The Western Bulldogs took the pre-season spoils, defeating St Kilda by 40 points in the NAB Cup Final
at Docklands to give themselves a welcome boost of confidence and momentum before the home &
away season gets under way.
It was a good start for the Bulldogs, with Barry Hall kicking the first two goals of the match, and St Kilda’
s chances received a setback shortly after when Sam Fisher departed with an ankle injury and would
play no further part in the game. The Bulldogs kicked four goals before the Saints registered a score, on
their way to a 22 point lead at the first change.
But the Saints lifted in the second term, and for a while looked a chance to get back into the contest.
With Nick Riewoldt leading the way, the Saints kicked the first two goals of the quarter to reduce the
margin to just 7 points before a super-goal to Mitchell Hahn restored the Bulldogs’ momentum. But
Hahn’s contribution to the game would be cut short a few minutes later, after being caught short in a
collision and forced to leave the field with concussion. At half time, the Bulldogs led by 22 points, the
Bulldogs having undone all the good work the Saints had done early in the quarter.
But whatever St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said to his charges during the long break had the desired effect
as the Saints came out strongly in the third term. Three goals in the opening 6 minutes, two of them
off the boot of Riewoldt, and suddenly the margin was back to just 3 points. But, as was the case in
the second term, the Saints were unable to sustain the pressure and a nine-point goal to the Bulldogs
would take the wind out of the Saints’ sails. This time it was Shaun Higgins who did the damage with a
nine-pointer, followed up just a minute later with a regular goal; and the Saints’ chance was gone. But
although the Bulldogs had stopped the Saints’ charge, the margin was still only 15 points at the last
change and the Saints were still a chance of stealing the game.
But not for long, as the Bulldogs stepped up a gear in the final term to lock the Saints out and ensure
the pre-season silverware would be making its way to the Western Oval. Barry Hall, as he has done
throughout the pre-season, showed himself to be settling in well in his new surroundings; and in the
final term he would step up a gear to ensure his new club took the trophy. His haul of 5 for the quarter
brought his tally for the game to 7, and the Bulldogs had plenty to celebrate after taking the pre-
season title.
Barry Hall would take the Michael Tuck Medal as best on ground in the NAB Cup Final, and sent a
message to the competition that both himself up forward and his Bulldogs team mean business in 2010.
While the Saints, unable to pick up any silverware in the last 12 months despite appearing in both last
year’s Grand Final and this year’s NAB Cup final, have some work to do to get the premiership monkey
off their back.
Western Bulldogs 0.4.5 1.5.6 2.7.7 2.13.8 (104)
St Kilda 0.1.1 0.3.5 0.7.10 0.9.10 (64)
Nine-Point Goals : Bulldogs – M Hahn, S Higgins. St Kilda - Nil.
Goals : Bulldogs - B Hall 7, S Higgins 2, J Akermanis, J Everitt, R Griffen, J Murphy. St Kilda
- N Riewoldt 4, S Milne, J Gram, J Geary, B Goddard, J Koscitzke.
Best : Bulldogs – B Hall, A Cooney, M Boyd, D Giansiracusa, R Griffen, S Higgins. St Kilda –
N Riewoldt, L Montagna, B Goddard, N Dal Santo, J Gram, J Blake.
Injuries : Bulldogs - N Eagleton (back), M Hahn (head knock). St Kilda - S Fisher (ankle).
Reports – Nil. Umpires – B Rosebury, M Stevic, R Chamberlain.
Crowd - 42,381 at Docklands.
ROUND 1 FIXTURES (Michael Shillito's tips in bold) Thursday 25th March Richmond v Carlton (7:10pm, MCG) Friday 26th March Geelong v Essendon (7:40pm, MCG) Saturday 27th March Melbourne v Hawthorn (2:10pm, MCG) Brisbane v West Coast (7:10pm, Gabba) Sydney v St Kilda (7:10pm, ANZ Stadium) Sunday 28th March Port Adelaide v North Melbourne (1:10pm, AAMI Stadium) Western Bulldogs v Collingwood (2:10pm, Docklands) Fremantle v Adelaide (4:40pm, Subiaco Oval)
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