The Western Bulldogs are putting Saturday night’s hard-fought win over Carlton down to maturity and composure.
The Bulldogs led for most of the sold-out match, before conceding six goals in the second-half which allowed the Blues to briefly hit the front late.
But the Dogs steadied, slotting the final four goals to put the game to bed and register their fourth consecutive win.
Cody Weightman told the Sunday Footy Show the result would instil a lot of confidence among the playing group.
“To lose the lead in the last and then steady for a really important win – I’m sure we’ll extract a lot of confidence from it,” Weightman said.
“It was probably a game we would’ve lost in the past, so hopefully that shows the maturity of our group now and can take us a fair way.”
Anthony Scott (three goals from eight disposals) echoed Weightman’s thoughts on SEN on Sunday morning.
“It was a bit of a weird one – the first half we were pretty much on top and set up really well, but as you expect these days teams do come back,” Scott said.
“When they get a bit of a run on it can be hard to stop – so it was a bit of a shoot-out in the end and then when Carlton hit the lead it was a little bit nervous.
“We’ve shown in the last few weeks though that we’ve been able to quell oppositions when they do get a run-on against us late in games. It was good to get the win in the end.”
Tom Liberatore was prolific in the Dogs’ on-ball brigade – finishing with 13 clearances, nine tackles and a goal from 26 disposals.
He said some steadiness in the line-up, as well as some positional changes on-field has helped the Bulldogs produce a more consistent brand of footy.
"We scratch our heads a bit, thinking back to round one and even round two,” Liberatore told ABC Grandstand the morning after the game.
“We’ve had a fair bit of change too – so I think to have a bit more continuity over the last couple of weeks is probably what we needed.
“I think initially our pressure and contest is the one (area) – you can sort of build around that. Bevo made a few key changes in the last quarter and our boys responded really well.
“The contest aligning with that structural intelligence allowed us to get back on the front foot.”
The Bulldogs will next host Adelaide at Mars Stadium in Ballarat this Saturday, in the first week of Sir Doug Nicholls Round.
