Eade said the best element of the win at the MCG was his side’s ability to rally when challenged by a relentless opponent.
"At the end of the day we tried to lose it, but the pleasing thing was the maturity of the group," he said.
"[The Kangaroos] are renowned for their grit and determination, and to be able to fend that off and kick those last two goals was really pleasing.
"To win a tight, close game because of the weather and opposition we had, I think that will cement more belief within the group.
"Sometimes you've got to win ugly. I know that's an old phrase but we certainly did that today."
Eade said the players were affected by their red-eye trip from Perth last Monday morning, but still believed they had the conditioning to win the match when it hung in the balance.
"I thought it may have been an issue. We certainly looked heavy but I think both teams did," he said.
"They went tall and in the end were just kicking it long, which put us under a bit of pressure.
"But they played in hotter weather than us last week and I was fairly confident our fitness would see us out."
The Bulldogs coach praised elevated rookie Liam Picken, who played his first game and was pitted against Kangaroos' captain Brent Harvey.
Harvey finished the game with just 18 touches and was below his influential best.
"He got lost a little bit at stages. Harvey is a very smart player and very experienced," Eade said.
"In the past, Harvey and [Daniel] Wells couldn't get to the ground quick enough when they play us. They slept here overnight the night before, I reckon, they were that keen to get here.
"We were really keen to have someone sit on one of them, and I thought for his first game, he did really well."
He also denied suggestions that Adam Cooney remained sore after his pre-season knee operation. Eade said the Brownlow medallist simply struggled to get going against the Roos.
"He's fine. He just didn't adapt to the wet weather today as well as we would have liked," he said.
"Griff [Ryan Griffen] worked his way into the game by being in the contest and continuing to work hard, and I didn't think Adam worked as well as he has in the past.
"In these sorts of conditions, you've got to get back to basics, and at times in the second quarter we didn't keep it basic and I didn't think Adam did either."
