MIDFIELDER Daniel Cross says the Western Bulldogs' first bye has come at a bad time given the way they played against Gold Coast on Saturday at Etihad Stadium.

Cross, 28, said the players and coaches were bitterly disappointed with how they turned out against the Suns despite the fact they managed to beat them by 71 points.

After the game, coach Rodney Eade lamented his side's execution, said they were "fumbly" at times and was frustrated they were beaten in the clearances by a vastly younger side.

The Dogs must now wait until April 25 to play Fremantle at Patersons Stadium, and Cross said a 16-day break was not ideal after the soul-searching that followed their round one loss to Essendon, and easy but sloppy wins over the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast.

"Although we won, with losses you want the next week to come around and resurrect what you did wrong, and we can go into the bye with a win, but we've got a lot of work to do," Cross said.

"We want that Fremantle game to come quick now so we'll work really, really hard over the next two weeks to make sure we're getting those things right."

Cross said the Dogs had faced the Suns with full respect for their opponents despite watching the big loss Guy McKenna's men suffered at the hands of Carlton a week ago.

However, he admitted they had expected to perform better against the emerging side than they did.

"Our group has been together for six of seven years under Rocket and they've been together for two games under Guy McKenna," he said.

"With the experience we've got, we really should beat sides like that quite convincingly and that's not being cocky or anything.

"You put pressure on yourself to perform at the highest level and they had about 12 or 13 second gamers in their side, so it's going to be hard for them.

"They're going to be a great side though so we're not going to give them any free passes. They'll learn pretty quick."

Leadership group member Shaun Higgins officiated the coin toss at the start of the game and addressed the players prior to the bounce.

Cross said he wasn't sure why captain Matthew Boyd had given Higgins that responsibility but believed it would help the 23-year-old's leadership skills.

"I suppose Boyd is just using his delegation skills, sharing it around a little bit," he said.

"It's good. Higgo is going to be a strong leader for us down the track and he spoke to the group before the game as well so I suppose it's a good confidence boost for him.

"It might be something Boydy wants to do as captain."