RETURNING North Melbourne star Daniel Wells escaped his first hit-out unscathed as the Kangaroos strengthened their ties with Ballarat with a 23-point win against a depleted Western Bulldogs on Sunday.
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Wells, in his first pre-season match after coming back from life-threatening blood clots late last year, entered the fray at the start of the third term and went to half-forward where he was opposed by Easton Wood.
Within 15 minutes, Wells had hit the post from a set shot 40m out before producing a signature move, snapping up a loose ball, sidestepping an opponent and drilling a supergoal that had brought the crowd of about 8000 to its feet.
The 27-year-old - who has recently been eased off blood-thinning medication to enable him to receive body contact - finished with 10 possessions, including six of the contested variety.
After the match, Wells admitted to some pre-game nerves that only increased in his early minutes on the field.
"When I came on, I felt a bit lost running around; felt a bit weird not getting the ball," he said.
"It felt good to get out (there) but I blew up pretty quickly, as you'd expect ... You've just got to go on instinct and reaction time. It was good to get through that stage."
Wells insisted the near-fatal condition that sidelined him was no longer an issue.
"It's all good now ... it's all in the past," he said. "Obviously the club will monitor it very closely but that's just precautionary. (The) recovery rate at the moment is pretty good.
"Up until a couple of weeks ago I wasn't going to play a NAB Cup game ... the club and myself will do everything we can to make sure by round one that I'm going to have a good impact for the Kangas."
Wells earned praise from his coach Brad Scott.
"He played the way I expected him to," Scott said.
"He just changes the course of play with his skills and some great crumbing efforts and changed the look of our forward line with pressure.
"He didn’t take a backward step today. He laid some tackles and looked right at home.
"Let's be honest, he looked like our reigning best and fairest winner."
The margin was a lot closer than many expected after the Bulldogs rested nine key players for the contest, including skipper Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross, Adam Cooney and Bob Murphy. Meanwhile, the Kangaroos were only without pivotal trio Drew Petrie, Lachie Hansen and Scott McMahon.
The result would have been much closer had the Bulldogs been more accurate with their set shots. They blazed 0.9.16 (70) to the Roos 1.11.18 (93) at Eureka Stadium.
North rattled on the opening three goals of the match, including two to a lively Liam Anthony - and mustered seven of the first eight scoring shots - and it appeared pre-game fears of a whitewash would come to fruition.
But the undermanned Bulldogs received a spark from an unlikely source - Tom Campbell, the rookie-listed 20-year-old ruckman, who kicked successive goals after strong contested marks. Campbell finished with 3.3 in an impressive first-up display for the club.
Bulldogs midfielder Ryan Griffen was also dominant in the first half before being rested, gathering 14 possessions, including 10 contested, and slotting two goals.
Young Bulldogs runners Clay Smith (22 disposals), Luke Dahlhaus (23, including 11 contested) and Tom Liberatore (also with 23 touches, including 11 contested) were terrific in the absence of experienced teammates.
Brian Lake played a full game and was solid with 15 disposals.
The major performer for North was Liam Anthony, who had 20 touches and two score assists to go with his two goals, while Brent Harvey had 19 disposals in his second-half run.
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NORTH MELBOURNE 0.3.4 0.6.8 1.9.13 1.11.18. (93)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 0.3.3 0.5.9 0.6.13 0.9.16 (70)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Wells (supergoal), Anthony, Harper 2, Adams, Atley, Swallow, McIntosh, Thompson, Edwards, Campbell
Western Bulldogs: Campbell 3, Skinner, Griffen 2, Roughead, Hill.
BEST
North Melbourne: Anthony, Thompson, Ziebell, Wright, Harvey.
Western Bulldogs: Dahlhaus, Liberatore, Smith, Campbell, Griffen.
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, Ryan, Hosking
Crowd: Approximately 8000 at Eureka Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
