Dragons coach Ashley Connick described it as the "best practice match I've been involved in" during his time at the club, and it was easy to see why.

There are few tougher tests in country footy than that of the Echuca Bombers, who have won back-to-back GVFL premierships.

While the Dragons eventually fell by six goals, Connick couldn't have been more pleased with what his side got out of the contest.

"That first half was high-quality, high-pressure footy that certainly didn't feel like a practice match," Connick said.

"At half-time, it was only eight points, and they pulled away in the second half, but that was to be expected as they're a fair way ahead in their pre-season with the GVFL starting next Saturday.

"We knew they were going to expose any areas of ours that weren't where it needed to be, and that was the aim of the day.

"We took a lot of lessons from it and while there's work to do, we got some evidence our best footy stacked up against one of the top clubs in country Victoria."

The Dragons produced their best footy for the day in the second quarter, moving the ball with speed while having immense pressure on the Bomber's ball carrier.

The aim now for Connick is to produce those spurts for longer.

"We just need to produce that intent we showed for 60 per cent of the game for 100, and we've got three weeks to tinker with that, which leaves us in a good spot," Connick said.

"We felt we gave the footy back a bit too easily in the second half, but that's because we wanted to play aggressively.

"Against an opponent like Echuca, if you get that wrong, it can leave you very exposed, so we need to get that balance right."

Fergus Greene showed why he will draw crowds to the BFNL this season, taking a big screamer early in the second term.

Greene played deep, allowing Cobi Maxted and Lachlan Wright, who were both impressive, to play higher up the ground.

"There'll be times when Fergus is up the ground and Lachlan deeper, but those two have done a power of work together in the pre-season and have a license to determine that based on their match-ups," Connick said.

"Wright will usually be a bit higher with his high running power, and Cobi and Fergus closer to goal.

"But we were delighted with Lachlan's output yesterday, as his work rate was exactly where we want it to be."

By all reports, Noah Walsh has had another fantastic pre-season, and it showed on Saturday with the star midfielder bursting out of stoppage on numerous occasions.

"We had a plan to play Lachlan Tardrew and Noah 50-50 between midfield and forward, whereas in season against the best sides, that will likely become 75 to 80 per cent midfield minutes," Connick said.

"That allowed some other guys like Charlie Robinson and Isaac Carracher to have a chance to line up on some gun midfielders, and they showed good signs."

James Coghlan, Zac Pallpratt, Isaac Ruff, Lachlan Hood, and Bryce Curnow didn't play on Saturday, but they are expected to be right for the Dragons' round one clash against Kangaroo Flat on April 13.

Meanwhile, Golden Square duo Tom Toma and Ricky Monti lined up together for Essendon's VFL match against Brisbane on Saturday.

Toma performed admirably, slotting two majors from his 18 touches.