It was a game of two halves against Collingwood on Sunday but Western Bulldogs’ veteran Robert Murphy says the final two quarters displayed the growing resilience and progress of the group.

While late game fadeouts caused headaches for the Bulldogs last season, the side has been better equipped to be competitive throughout matches this year and have gone on to win five of their second halves. 

The Bulldogs persistence against Collingwood in round 12 saw them reduce a half time 53 point deficit to just 34 points at the final siren, winning the half by 17 points.

"We're certainly building, that's why the first bit was a bit frustrating because were able to get our hands on the ball, we just weren't able to test them the other way and they're a great side,” Murphy said.

"They've been playing together a long time and they had their rhythm early but… in the second half we were able to get some control of the game."

Murphy said the Bulldogs struggled to curb the well-drilled Collingwood outfit early in the game but was impressed with how some of his young teammates adjusted and increasingly took the game on.

"I think early we weren't able to upset the defensive rhythm of Collingwood. [There was] a lot of sideways kicking, [kicking] backwards, so we sort of played into their hands a little bit," he said.

“In the first half, we certainly didn’t get them out of their comfort zone enough with the ball.

"But in saying that, I'm pretty happy with the way we adjusted at half time and fought it out and ran it out because last year we weren't able to adjust as quickly, and run games out.”