Angus Baker is hard to replace, but Jack O'Sullivan will do a great job

The two-time Morrison medallist in the Goulburn Valley was the best player in the home team's 7.19 (61) to 7.4 (46) win over Myrtleford.

"We spoke about exposing him to his strengths, like last week he was doing a lot of work and it gassed him, he's happy to do it and can do it, but we need to put him in situations where he can hurt sides," co-coach Jarrod Twitt explained.

Nobody will understand O'Sullivan's debut performance last week against Yarrawonga like his fellow co-coach.

A former star midfielder himself, Twitt wasn't a big man, but often took it on his own shoulders to do the grunt work of somebody 20kgs heavier.

O'Sullivan impressed against the Pigeons on debut, but it was quickly obvious he was trying to inspire his team-mates by doing everything the way Twitt did during his wonderful career.

"I play inside mid and do what the team requires, pride myself on contested balls, tackles, try and use the ball well when going forward," the 175cm on-baller offered.

O'Sullivan's produced a clever tackle on Myrtleford's best player Matt Munro on the wing in front of the grandstand midway through the final quarter as the visitors were looking to launch a late comeback.

He exploded in the third term, setting up opportunities for forwards Kyle Winter-Irving and Oscar Willding.

The Bulldogs lost former ACT Mulrooney medallist Angus Baker back home to Canberra after two stunning seasons and while his unprecedented endurance is irreplaceable at this level, O'Sullivan appears the ideal option.

However, after only two games, the Bulldogs have amassed a paltry 11.33 output, landing only a quarter of their attempts.

"We were able to absorb pressure and stay in the contest a lot longer, but we were clunky and there's a lot to improve on," Twitt added.

However, Myrtleford gained a jump early, claiming the first nine inside 50s.

Munro produced a 52m pearler to kick-start the scoring, but despite dominating possession and territory the Saints weren't inaccurate, they just didn't have that many scoring opportunities in carrying a seven-point lead to quarter-time.

It was a different story in the second term as the Bulldogs kicked 2.8 to 2.1, missing three gettable chances in two minutes towards the end of the stanza as the teams went to half-time on 28-apiece.

After light rain fell at times in the first half, the second half was played in sunshine and Noah Spiteri produced a belter from 40m on a tight angle to hand Wodonga the lead for the first time.

The Saints needed their stars to lift and Munro, after a bright start, burst back with a clever left-foot snap as the home team led by eight points at three-quarter time.

However it was former player Winter-Irving, who moved to the Bulldogs over summer, who effectively ended the match when he tried to find a team-mate 60m out and the ball bounced through for a goal.

Apart from O'Sullivan, fellow gusty on-baller Josh Mathey also had plenty of disposals, Charlie Morrison showed again why he's one of the league's best defenders and fellow backman Mitch Dinneen continues to improve.

The Saints have now lost their two games by 15 points or less and while they will start long outsiders to topple premiers Yarrawonga on Saturday, they must set themselves for a round four win over fellow winless outfit Lavington.

"We have to work on our inconsistency in the game, particularly in a quarter and some of our fundamentals are still a challenge for us, the simple cough-ups, dropped chest marks really hurt us," Saints' coach Craig Millar said.

Munro was dynamic at times, Frazer Dale racked up a stack of touches and was dangerous, while recruits Zac Pethybridge and Jaxon East featured in defence and on-ball respectively.