The Western Bulldogs’ Dale Morris says Saturday’s convincing 68-point win over the Brisbane Lions was reward for effort over the pre-season but the Club is unwilling to get ahead of itself after round one.

The ability to implement a number of key structures against the NAB Cup grand finalists was pleasing for the veteran defender, but he was not shying away from the development yet to come.

“We know what we are capable of and we have been working hard this pre-season to really work on our structures and setups,” Morris said.

“We weren’t perfect on the weekend and we still have things that we need to work on, and that is what this week is for.

“We just want to continue to grow as a team and to get better and better each week.”

As Morris re-establishes his role in a new-look back six, the emergence of rookie elevation Brett Goodes, Jason Johannisen and Tom Young looks to be paying dividends – with the defensive unit gelling well in the season opener.

“To come in with guys I hadn’t played much if any footy with, it’s just fantastic to see the growth over the last year and the off-season and working so hard together in the pre-season is really paying off,” he said.

“The trick now is to back it up each week and to remain a tight force down back for the whole season.”

Morris has identified consistency amongst the young emerging group as the telling factor for the rest of the season.

“You go through the whole pre-season and round one there is so much unknown going into the first game and [for] all the boys to get out there and get reward for all the work that they have done in the pre-season is the best thing,” he said.

“The trick now is for consistency, you don’t do all this work for nothing, you just want to back it up each week – and the old cliché take it one week at a time.

“The guys around here are really level headed and the coaches keep everything very level, keep everything in perspective – you’ve got to chalk the wins and hope for the best for the rest of the year.”