Hasleby relieved with Bulldogs’ first win of 2013

SOUTH Fremantle coach Paul Hasleby was relieved to get the Bulldogs’ first win of the season over Peel but was most proud that his team responded to being challenged in the third quarter to run away with the 15-point victory.

The Bulldogs came out on fire on Saturday at Fremantle Oval kicking the first five goals of the game against Peel and still led by 20 points at half-time.

However, the Thunder hit back during the third quarter and closed to within a point during the last.

That same scenario has happened several times so far this season with South Fremantle unable to get over the line, but on Saturday it was the Bulldogs who finished the stronger to win by 15 points much to the relief of Hasleby.

“The feeling was more relief I reckon,” Hasleby said.

“We didn’t play our best footy and as I said to the guys afterwards we had played better this year and lost games, but on this occasion we were able to eke out the win.

“We are under no illusions that Peel certainly had their chances in that third quarter, but we strung together three pretty good quarters which got the job done for us, so that was pleasing.”

The Bulldogs’ loss to East Perth at Medibank Stadium prior to the State game break followed a very similar storyline. South Fremantle dominated the first half but didn’t put the Royals away and had a disappointing third quarter before steadying to lead by 15 points midway through the last term.

However, East Perth went on to kick the last five goals that day to win by 19 points so that made Hasleby even more relieved when South Fremantle was able to reverse that trend in the last quarter on Saturday against the Thunder.

“We dominated the first half and then we had a very poor third quarter for the second game in a row. The challenge was there for the lads and it was very similar from the East Perth game so from a coaching point of view it’s impressive to see that they learnt from that game,” he said.

“They took a few more risks, won a few more contests around the ground and were able to finish off with a couple of goals which was nice. It’s a work in progress for us to try and change the momentum when it’s going against us.