Blues coach admits they 'stole the match' from vastly improved Bulldogs

In a replay of last year's grand final the Blues' 13.7 (85) to 12.8 (80) was their smallest winning margin since beating Tumbarumba by eight points in round 7 last year.

The slender victory took the Blues' winning streak to 15 after suffering their most recent loss against Tumbarumba in the grand final two years ago.

Trailing by a point at the final change the Blues found another gear in the tense final term, booting three goals to two and surviving a huge scare from last year's grand finalists.

Blues co-coach Dayne Carey was full of praise for the Bulldogs who looked to have narrowed the gap significantly on the reigning premier who triumphed by 94 points in last year's decider.

"Full credit to Bullioh, they came out raring to go," Carey said.

"I think the couple of practice matches they had, really set them up for a strong performance.

"We were very flat early because being an older group, most of the group voted not to have any practice matches over the pre-season.

"So the opposition was match ready but we were just pre-season ready which was the difference."

Despite being underdone, Carey said the most pleasing aspect of the win was being able to find another gear when challenged.

"Our mentality internally over the past few seasons is, we know how to win games," he said.

"The basic fitness was there and we just kept the ball from the opposition, chipped it around and knew how to win.

"It was a hard-fought win and to be honest, we probably stole the match off them in the end.

"They threw everything at us and kicked the last goal of the match and if we had to play another five minutes, we may have been in trouble.

"It was a good hit-out to blow away the cobwebs.

"It was also something different to have a close contest and this season might be a lot closer than most people initially thought."

The reigning premier unveiled several of their new recruits including Cam McNeill, Brayden Carey, Daryl Webb, Grady Nigsch, Guy Telford and Jack Gilbee.

McNeill was a ball magnet for the Blues and is expected to be a leading contender for the league medal with the proven vote catcher having already previously won four Barton medals.

Telford also made an impressive debut for the Blues with five goals and provided another reliable avenue to goal alongside Adam Prior and Ben Hall.

Star Bulldogs forward Ash Murray was causing plenty of headaches for the Blues early before they switched Nigsch onto the rampaging forward.

Nigsch who played 13 senior matches with North Albury two years ago, was able to curb the brilliance of Murray to be among the Blues best.

He looms as another trump card for the Blues and should simply dominate at the lower standard of the Upper Murray league.

Joel Heiner was the Bulldogs' best and is another recruit who should be a class above in the Upper Murray after previously playing seniors for Wodonga Bulldogs as recently as last year.