WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has praised some of his younger players for helping turn his team from a batch of timid puppies into hungry Bulldogs during their big win over Richmond.

Eade said his side’s skill level was well down in the early stages and subsequently the Tigers were able to claw their way back to lead at half time.

But thanks to the penchant of his less-experienced players to take risks, the Bulldogs roared away after half-time to win by 68 points, 24.13 (157) to 14.5 (89).

“I think there’s a great correlation with execution of skills and your mindset,” Eade said after the game.

“Our execution early in the game was poor and at some stages in the second quarter but our execution in the third quarter matched our ability to put pressure on.

“We worked hard, and once you work hard the skill tends to follow … I thought some of the young players really set the scene there.”

Jarrod Harbrow, Callan Ward, Josh Hill and Liam Picken all played significant roles for the Bulldogs, who booted seven goals to nil the third term and 13 goals to two after the main break.

“I thought Picken, and I thought Ward’s pressure and his hard-ball gets in that third quarter were terrific. Harbrow [was also good],” Eade said.

“So I think those younger players were as much the catalysts as anybody.”

In fact on a night when Terry Wallace said goodbye to coaching, it was those young Bulldogs who stole the limelight, revealing themselves as accomplished league footballers.

Eade said Wallace’s swansong hadn’t proved a distraction for his side. If anything, it had the opposite effect.

“I think it gave us a bit more focus,” he said.

“I mean, coming off three or four good performances, you’re always worried about players lapsing a bit, especially playing against a team that’s second last [on the ladder].

“I think with the focus on the departure of Terry I think it just brought our players [together].

“We spoke to them obviously on Monday – not in a big way. And there’s obviously history between the two clubs and we spoke about that as well, but I think from that aspect it was probably a positive.”

The coach said late withdrawal Robert Murphy (hamstring) had been “extremely close” to playing but the club had erred on the side of caution. He should be fit to travel to Darwin next week.

Eade was happy enough with the performance of Murphy’s replacement, debutant Brennan Stack.

“I think he showed he’s got some talent, which we know he has,” he said.

“He’s got a real X-factor about him. He can do some really magical things but he just needs to have confidence in himself and be able to work as hard as the other players in the team.”