Footscray two-from-two in VFL preseason

Footscray son-of-a-gun Josh Wallis lines up for goal on Saturday. (Damjan Janevski)

Footscray had a hard-fought 25-point win over North Ballarat in its second VFL practice match at the Whitten Oval on Saturday.

With only one point separating the sides at half-time, the Bulldogs put their foot on the accelerator with a five goals to one second half to make it a perfect two-from-two in the preseason.

It was a raw Bulldogs side which coach Ashley Hanson put out on to the field with 10 debutants and only one AFL-listed player among the squad of 26 in Joel Hamling.

Hamling was superb in defence, floating across for a number of intercept marks and inflicting his trademark spoils.

New recruit Lauchlan Dalgleish was best-on-ground, while Josh Wallis, the brother of Western Bulldogs star Mitch and son of former Bulldogs captain Steve, was outstanding on the forward line with three goals.

The Bulldogs are back at the Whitten Oval at midday on Saturday for a clash with Essendon.

Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs will begin their AFL season with a tough encounter against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Sunday at 1.10pm.

Former Hawthorn premiership player Matt Suckling could make his debut for the Bulldogs, while strong word out of the kennel is Marcus Adams, selected in last year’s national draft, will be considered after an impressive NAB Challenge in the defence.

The round one team will be revealed on Thursday.