"Hopefully the trifecta next week, no pressure Adam, but I'm sure he'll go all right," Goodes said. Goodes helped engineered this win from his own boot in the opening term. He swooped on the loose ball, showing experience and patience and he nursed consecutive forward entries into his key forwards. The Hawks' decision to play Cyril Rioli was vindicated by a supreme eight-minute burst in the third term, contributing to two goals with deft taps to Ben Ross and Sam Collins. He also got through the game unscathed, testing his hamstring out on more than one occasion, although at times he looked out of touch. He was taken off at three-quarter-time as a precaution. With Luke Andrews sidelined through injury from the opening term and Sam Iles looking like his battle-scarred body had endured too much, the decision to sideline Rioli at such a critical stage of the match – the Hawks were up by just six points at the last change – cost them a swift pair of legs they needed as the Bulldogs charged home. The Hawks led by 18-points at the six-minute mark of the final term, but they did run out of legs.

Bulldog forward Liam Jones was the match-winner, kicking five goals. His final two goals of the match added polish to the Dogs' win. Footscray coach Chris Maple said he could sense his team could topple the Hawks with their renowned fitness. "We knew that they had one or two not right," he said. "We had it in the back of our minds that he'd (Rioli) only play 60 per cent ... He just had a little five-minute patch where he went hard and they might have told him that this was his last five-minute rotation." Maple said he was delighted for the crowd of 23,816 - a large percentage of whom were Dogs fans who have backed the club in its return season as a stand-alone club. "We've been rapt. The Doggies supporters have come out in their droves. Obviously there's not a heap of silverware back in the cupboard," he said.

Box Hill got out to a14-point lead early in the first term courtesy of James Sicily, who booted two of its first three goals. The Bulldogs finished the quarter better however, despite three blemishes from Jarrad Grant. Michael Fogarty, from Spotswood, showed Grant how to hit the scoreboard, barnstorming his way through traffic. Tom Young levelled the scores late in the term as the Bulldogs began to find their mojo. The Bulldogs took control of the match early in the second quarter to hold a 19-point lead. Goodes was a key factor in the surge with his exquisite skills. His repeated forward entries gave Grant, Jason Tutt and Jones opportunities to set up the Dogs' lead before the Hawks surged back. An errant kick from Bulldog Mitch Jensen in defence landed in the hands of Mitch Hallahan, who had a purple patch with two goals to turn the game around once more.

Frosty Miller Medal winner Sam Grimley booted a long goal from outside 50 to get the Hawks within a point at the main break. In the third quarter Luke Lowden put Box Hill back in the lead, and Ben Ross, on the end of a Cyril Rioli tap, snapped another. The Hawks appeared to have the game won in the last quarter but could not withstand the Bulldog charge as they kicked 6.6.