WESTERN Bulldogs ruckman Ben Hudson stressed there was no need to panic in the wake of his side"s 55-point loss to Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

While full of praise for Essendon's defensive pressure, which he described as being among the best in the competition, Hudson said the Bulldogs' form could only improve.

"Obviously they've gone away and worked on their pressure and have continued their form from the NAB Cup," Hudson said of Essendon.

"But they had a lot of the ball today as well. When we were trying to come out of defence, they had numbers around the ground so in that situation it doesn't matter who's the got the ball it's not easy."

"We've got to go back and lick our wounds and assess the tape and review it and go from there. But you can only mope for so long in this game, there's 20-odd weeks left to go and we know we've got to pick it up and keep on going."

Hudson was buoyed by the performances of first-game players Tom Liberatore and Lukas Markovic.

"Young 'Libba' accredited himself very well. Lukas Markovic has a real red-hot crack and thats what you need down there (in defence)," he said.

Hudson was also confident the club's off-season recycled recruits - Nathan Djerrkura (Geelong) and Justin Sherman (Brisbane Lions) who played against the Bombers, and Patrick Veszpremi (Sydney Swans) who didn't - would play significant roles for the Bulldogs this year.  

"They've all had really good pre-seasons and they've fitted in really well. Obviously it can take a while for players to adjust to a new team environment, but I thought there were good signs with Nathan and 'Sherm' today.

"It's disappointing from a team point of view we couldn't get a win for them today, but it's a long year and they'll show what they can do."

Hudson played on Sunday as the sole Bulldogs ruckman, taking on formidable Essendon duo David Hille and Patrick Ryder, with occasional support from teammate Tom Williams.

His task was not made easier by the new interchange rule that has reduced sides' benches this season from four players to three players and a substitute.

Notwithstanding that, Hudson battled manfully against the Essendon duo to rack up 20 possessions and 21 hit-outs, but he acknowledged he had felt the effects of the new rule.

"You knew that you'd have to spend more time on the ground and it would be harder to run out the game) and it was," he said.

"But there's nothing we can do - a rule's a rule. Every team plays by it and whether you like it or not it's there and it's there to stay.

"So teams just have to adapt and it might take three or four weeks for them to get their structures right."