Brad Scott loves Jack Ziebell’s faultless AFL courage, but not the damaging consequences.

Ziebell was stretchered off Etihad Stadium with concussion on Saturday as the Kangaroos held off Richmond’s late charge to win their last NAB Challenge match by 14 points.

The Kangaroos vice-captain was sitting on the interchange bench by the end of the 3.13 15 (120) to 2.12 16 (106) win, and could well be available for their April 5 season opener at Adelaide Oval against the Crows.

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But Scott revealed post-match he has spoken to Ziebell about his fearlessness.

Scott noted that Ziebell had also suffered two broken legs and a shoulder reconstruction in his 100-game senior career.

Earlier in the first half, Ziebell also briefly left the field with a jarred shoulder.

He then suffered high contact when he collided with Richmond defender Alex Rance late in the second term.

Ziebell’s head hit the ground, leaving him knocked out cold.

“I’ve spoken to him about certain things and we’ve trained certain things so he gets himself into a better position,” Scott said.

“Mostly for him it’s about instinct – he’s just an incredibly courageous, hard at the ball type player.

“I’d never want to do anything to take that part of his game away, but we’ll just work on techniques to enable him to protect himself a bit better.”

Ziebell’s injury aside, the match was the ideal way for the ‘Roos and Tigers to finalise their pre-season campaigns.

“(It was) exactly what we wanted – good opposition, playing pretty much their best side, who I thought gave us some really good competition,” Scott said.

“We got run into the players we wanted.”

Richmond were bleeding goals early and trailed by 38 points in the second term, but coach Damien Hardwick said they were not playing badly.

They rallied well in the last term and reduced the margin to 11 points before North closed out the match.

One obvious concern was how North opened up their defence early.

“But it didn’t feel like a 30-point game from our point of view – we were having shots at goal but we just weren’t capitalising,” Hardwick said.

“If you take the scoreboard out of it, a lot of our KPIs were ‘green’.”

Midfielder Daniel Wells and ruckman Todd Goldstein starred for the ‘Roos, while Western Bulldogs recruit Shaun Higgins and Lindsay Thomas kicked three goals apiece.

Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, back from a hamstring injury, was high among their best.

Elsewhere, Adelaide have held crosstown rivals Port Adelaide goalless in the third quarter on their way to a 24-point win in the at AAMI Stadium.

The Crows ran away with the game in the third period after a tight first half and survived a late Power onslaught to secure a 3.13.12 (117) to 0.13.15 (93) win before 13,971 spectators.

Port showed glimpses of its silky best throughout the first half but the Crows’ midfielders were simply too good at the contests, outshining the Power in clearances and tackles.

Crows rookie Cam Ellis-Yolmen gathered 11 contested possessions and laid three tackles in a massive first quarter.

He finished with 27 touches (22 contested) and five tackles, staking his claim for a round one berth.

Classy forward Eddie Betts celebrated the birth of his son on Friday with 20 touches and two goals, while captain Taylor Walker slotted two majors and a supergoal.

And a dominant first-half display from the Western Bulldogs propelled them to a 61-point win over Collingwood.

Young Bulldog onballer Marcus Bontempelli starred with 15 possessions in the first quarter and finished with 29 touches and three goals in the Dogs’ 0.18.7 (115) to 0.8.6 (54) win at Etihad Stadium.

Collingwood took a strong side into the match, but it was the young Dogs who seized the momentum from the outset.

Jack Macrae (31 disposals), Mitch Wallis (21) and Luke Dahlhaus (32) joined Bontempelli in helping to set up the win, with veteran skipper Robert Murphy also playing a pivotal role down back in the impressive performance.

Collingwood stars Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan weren’t able to exert their usual influence early and Travis Cloke managed just one goal in the first half before finishing with two, but to put the result down to an off night for the Pies would do an injustice to the hard-working Dogs.

Luke Beveridge’s men impressed with their slick ball movement and overlap run, but also pressured their opponents into costly turnovers and ran hard defensively when they didn’t have the ball.

The margin blew out to 48 points in the third quarter before the Pies managed an unanswered three-goal burst, but the Bulldogs finished the match well with six goals to one in the final term.