KOROIT coach Chris McLaren says the Saints took a cautious approach with Sam Dobson against Portland with the key forward eager to make Hampden's interleague side next weekend.
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Dobson kicked three early goals in the Saints' 23.12 (150) to 3.6 (24) rout at Victoria Park on Saturday before resting up on the bench.
"He got a corkie and only played the first quarter," Koroit coach Chris McLaren said.
"He looked sharp but then it was really hurting him. He is keen to play next weekend (for the Bottle Greens) and we had the game in control so we put him on ice quickly."
The Saints kicked nine goals to one in the first term to race to a 53-point lead and put the result beyond doubt early.
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Jarrod Korewha finished the match with six goals in a return to form.
"He was much better. He didn't cover enough ground last week, he was stationary," McLaren said.
"This week he covered a lot of ground."
Portland coach Tom Sharp said the young Tigers made him proud.
"It's a weird feeling. We lost by 130 points but we responded well after the first quarter," he said.
"They got away to a flyer and after that I thought our boys were quite composed.
"We could've easily folded and lost by 200 points. I wasn't unhappy.
"In previous weeks I was more disappointed because of the way we went about it wasn't what we wanted."
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