'Banged up' Bulldogs confirm they can finish with the double chance

The Bulldogs grabbed a sixth straight win, keeping the home team goalless for more than a half in the scrappy 8.10 (58) to 5.6 (36) effort.

And they did it without inspirational coach Jack O'Sullivan in the second half after he took a heavy knock, while they're also missing a number of automatic selections, including the team's other Jack O'Sullivan and dual best and fairest Josh Mathey.

As with most of the games, the season's first windy conditions wreaked havoc with scoring.

The Bulldogs kicked three goals against the breeze to the Hawks' one.

"We just stayed in the grind, conditions were tough, in the first quarter that goal against the wind allowed us to steady and have our plan for the rest of the game," Wodonga co-coach Jarrod Twitt offered.

Rovers kicked three goals in a six-minute burst in the opening quarter and then didn't land another until the 23-minute mark of the third quarter as the visitors strangled the previously unbeaten Hawks.

"Early on, they exposed a couple of areas we needed to fix up," Twitt outlined.

"Our midfield boys were getting caught on the hop a little bit, which is unlike us, probably getting front end and they brought a lot of pressure.

"We changed a few things for the third quarter and they worked, just changed our numbers, a couple of match-ups and our height ratio and we put an extra (man back in defence)."

Rookie Ashton Brookes kicked the Bulldogs' first goal after he received a free kick, while Rovers' ruck Will Christie took a flying mark over Mitch Dinneen in the first quarter, but the Hawks didn't do enough damage with the breeze.

Bulldogs' co-captain Charlie Morrison blanketed his counterpart Alex Marklew, with a strong tackle in front of the interchange benches early in the second term forcing the latter to limp off for a short time.

Wodonga's pressure has received deserved praise and there was no greater evidence than a frenetic patch of play at the 10-minute mark of the second quarter.

The Bulldogs forced the Hawks back 40m through a series of tackles, which resulted in Jett Cassidy winning a free kick and drilling the shot from 40m.

And Wodonga grabbed the lead for the first time after a superb piece of transition from the kick-in, with the game's most dangerous forward Noah Spiteri nailing the conversion from 45m on a 45 degree angle.

To highlight the impact of the wind, only three marks were taken inside the 50m arc in the first half as Rovers, in particular, misjudged the flight of the ball.

It was even at half-time, but Rovers had to take at least a two-goal break into the final stanza, so when Spiteri booted the first two goals, the match was effectively over.

Alex McCarthy, the Hawks only multiple goalkicker, pegged one back late for the team's only major of the third quarter, but when Spiteri pounced on a defensive error for his fourth early in the final term, the underdogs had a two-goal break.

On a day where only 13 goals were kicked, Spiteri was electric and was the difference with his unpredictability and accuracy.

He battled Matt Wilson for best on ground with the utility blasting a goal from 48m out late and imposing himself on the match when it was needed.

Morrison kept Marklew goalless, taking a series of well judged marks, Adam Jorgensen was outstanding, but it's the improvement in a host of players, including Riley Gill, which is driving the 'Dogs towards a top three finish.

Rovers' Tom Boyd took six intercept marks and produced a goal-saving tackle on Cassidy, unheralded youngsters Charles Ledger and Justin Lewis played well, while Brodie Filo deserves special mention for his work from the midfield in the final quarter as he tried desperately to inspire the Hawks.

"We got out-hunted and thought they took their opportunities better with their smalls than us, we didn't have enough avenues to goal," sidelined Rovers' coach Sam Murray suggested.