Five goals from rookie Fergus Greene was the catalyst to Footscray’s runaway 51-point win over Werribee Tigers in the Victorian Football League at the Victoria University Whitten Oval on Saturday evening.
Greene, the 70th pick in the 2016 AFL National Draft, only needed 10 possessions and six marks to have a major influence over the game.
The former Bendigo Pioneers medium-sized forward has kicked eight goals in two games.
It was Footscray’s first win of their premiership defence, having fallen short by less than a kick in round one against Box Hill Hawks. That means it was Steve Grace’s first win since taking over as coach of the Bulldogs.
Bailey Williams was mighty impressive for the Bulldogs once again, racking up 31 disposals, 13 marks and three tackles in a man of the match performance.
Williams will come under consideration for a call-up to the Western Bulldogs when the selectors gather to pick their side for the massive clash with GWS Giants in Canberra on Friday night.
Mitch Honeychurch, Bailey Dale and Caleb Daniel were all prolific ball winners for Footscray.
The trio also worked hard defensively too, which is just as important in the modern game.
Tim English is a raw young ruck prospect, but the Western Australian is showing improvement each time he sets foot on a VFL field. The Bulldogs top draft pick from last year had 31 hit-outs to go with 16 possessions and five marks.
The Dogs had Werribee at arm’s length for most of the day, but rammed home their advantage with a six-goal-to-two last quarter.
Footscray will host winless North Ballarat at the Whitten Oval on Friday at 7pm.
Meanwhile, Williamstown trailed at every change before going down to the Northern Blues by 21 points at Preston City Oval on Saturday.
Adam Marcon capped a standout performance for the Seagulls with two goals.
Marcon finished with 20 possessions and seven tackles in a good two-way showing.
Ayce Cordy and Arryn Siposs were the Gulls other multiple goalkickers with two each.
Williamstown will be hoping to recover from that setback when it hosts Box Hill Hawks at Burbank Oval on Sunday from 2pm.
In the TAC Cup, Western Jets came from 21 points down at three-quarter time to beat Gippsland Power by four points in a thriller at Burbank Oval on Saturday.
Western Jets will travel to the Norm Minns Oval in Wangaratta on Saturday to face the high flying Murray Bushrangers.
