The Lions were within seven points early in the second term before the Bulldogs piled on 14 of the next 16 goals to eventually run out commanding 70-point winners.
There was a distinct physical difference between the two sides, particularly in the centre where seasoned Bulldog midfielders such as Matthew Boyd, Daniel Cross and Daniel Giansiracusa at times dominated their much younger opponents.
Daniel Rich battled hard all day and was arguably the Lions’ best and Tom Rockliff kept busy with 18 disposals, while Mitch Clark collected 16 possessions and booted two goals from limited opportunities up forward.
Rookie Broc McCauley shouldered the bulk of the ruck load in the absence of Matthew Leuenberger, but received assistance at times from defender Matt Maguire.
Lions Senior Coach Michael Voss said after the game that while it was only a practice match, he still expected more from some of his players.
“Overall we walk away having had a loss,” Voss said.
“We were good in patches, our first quarter was quite good, but teams are getting too much ball against us.”
“This time of year is all about finding players and getting some valuable game time into them,” he said.
“I think we’ve found a couple, but there are probably some others who haven’t stepped up as we would have liked.”
“So we’re still trying to find out who can fill those roles.”
Voss was pleased with the efforts of young forward Ryan Lester who kicked a goal and created opportunities in attack.
“Lester was good. He presented well,” Voss said.
“He is a forward marking-type player at the moment, but we see him potentially becoming a midfielder for us in the future.”
The Lions are likely to field their strongest pre-season side next week with the possible returns of Simon Black, Luke Power, Matthew Leuenberger, Jack Redden and James Polkinghorne.
