Western Bulldogs AFLW coach Nathan Burke has sung the praises of sensational skipper Ellie Blackburn and her teammates after finding a way to win against Carlton at VU Whitten Oval on Friday night.

The Bulldogs trailed by 10 points at the final change, but kicked the last three goals of the game – and held their nerve against a Blues’ onslaught late.

It was their first AFLW win since round one of last season – and first home win since round two, 2019.

Burke described it as a “gutsy win”.

“I said to them at three quarter time, trust that you’ve done the work over the pre-season that you can run this game out and just to keep that pressure on, it’s do or die,” he said. 

“There’s no easy way to play this game, you can’t take it easy. You’ve got to hurt yourself, you’ve got to push, you’ve got to put your body on the line.

“And they did it. They got the four points, so that’s huge.”

Blackburn sparked the Bulldogs in the final term, kicking two sensational goals to complement her 22 disposals on the night.

“She’s a special player,” Burke said.

“I said last week that I challenged her (over the pre-season) to kick goals. She didn’t have any at three quarter time, so she went out and kicked two.

“That’s a captain – that’s a captain lifting and dragging her team with her when it was needed.

“That was a great individual effort and a great captain’s effort.”