AFTER his side pushed Collingwood to the limit at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, Western Bulldogs veteran Daniel Giansiracusa declared the Dogs could return to the upper echelon of the AFL sooner than many have predicted.
Although acknowledging the Bulldogs had to make significant improvement, Giansiracusa - who kicked three goals on his return after missing one match from a foot injury - was buoyed by the gallant effort against the Magpies.
Watch Coach Brendan McCartney and Daniel Giansiracusa's post-match press conference on the media player above.
"The good sides do it for 100 per cent of the time, structurally and when fatigue gets in (and) at the moment we probably drop away a little bit," he said.
"We're working on being one of the best sides in the comp. We're not there yet, but we're confident we'll get there."
Asked to elaborate on this surprisingly rosy outlook given that the Dogs are now 2-4 after six games, Giansiracusa - seated alongside coach Brendan McCartney at the post-match press conference - reinforced his optimism.
"We're playing professional footy - you want to win," he said. "We understand that we're learning the whole time, but there's no ceiling from inside the club, no way."
McCartney was suffering a croaky throat, not from screaming in frustration, he said, but from issuing "a lot of strong encouragement and feedback".
"It was not a frustrating night; it was disappointing for our club to lose a game that we did a lot right in," he said.
"We've had a good chat - the leaders, myself and the senior players - and we felt we just didn’t smash in aggressively enough for long enough.
"(The) contested-ball count got out of control in the last quarter, (they) outnumbered us around the ball.
"We've got to become a club, and we will become a club, that just is physical and fights to the death."
The Bulldogs' much-maligned forward line's inability to mark was countered by their aggression, McCartney said.
"When our intensity was fever-pitch and we were aggressive and cracking in and tackling and putting on enormous pressure, the goals just happened," he said. "That's what we've got to keep doing, and do it for longer. And we will."
The Bulldogs' chances of victory weren't helped by some critical skill errors, but McCartney insists he wasn't critical of the culprits.
"You could ask all of our players and there wouldn't be one who has been criticised for turning the ball over," he said. "But there's been some pretty strong feedback given to people who move away from what the team needs."
He was most pleased with the efforts of his younger players to pick them selves up after making errors.
"(They) had moments in the game that they'd probably like to forget and move on but were able to, within two or three minutes, self-correct and get back into the game," he said. "And that is probably the most pleasing thing.
"We sat here three weeks ago after a belting (from St Kilda) in round three and we were upset that we weren't prepared to take the game on, and we did that tonight.
"We actually flicked the ball around and moved it and dared to dream a little bit, and that's a good thing. We want that to be a feature of our game.
"We also just want to have that ruthless defence, too, that keeps you in the game when you’re not scoring goals."
