Easton Wood is settling back into life at home in Melbourne with cuddles from his family and pet dog Murphy, following three months spent in the Bulldogs’ Queensland hub.

What started as 32 days abroad with wife Tiffany and young daughter Matilda quickly turned into the duration of the season, and while Wood says hub life presented some challenges, it was nice to see the “bigger picture” of teammates and staff.

“(Trying to switch off) was the hardest thing, because you’re surrounded and every reminder is football, but the biggest part about being closer together was that you got a real picture of not just the ‘football’ person, but a real picture of them in totality,” Wood told Whateley on SEN last week.

“For the first time you’re seeing the players, coaches and staff with their families, and you’re seeing it consistently, so that was really lovely.

“(Spending so much time together) certainly galvanised us and brought us closer together.”

Wood admits it was disappointing to fall short against St Kilda in the elimination final, after winning four of their final five games to finish seventh on the ladder.

“To actually have the hard work go into an opportunity at the holy grail and be in that position was great, but to ultimately fall three points short and leave too much work late in the game was a real shame,” he said.

“I felt the way we finished the year and the way we were playing some really good team football, felt like we were well-placed to have a good finals run.

“To not be amongst (finals) leaves a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth, but that’s the game.

“We’ll work harder over the break, and hopefully we can all do that and come back and give ourselves another opportunity and be better placed for it."