Despite another close encounter against Melbourne, Western Bulldogs women’s coach Craig Starcevich has praised his side’s spirit in their four-point loss in the second women’s exhibition match on Sunday.

The Bulldogs did not kick a goal in the opening term with Melbourne dominating play, but due to the efforts of half-forward Katie Brennan clawed their way back into the match.

“That’s the Bulldogs spirit coming out again, it’s very similar to the last game in a lot of ways but can’t question their spirit and their application to the task.

“Just hanging in there and persevering and all that sort of stuff was great so they can hold their heads up high.”

The Bulldogs managed to get the game back on their terms for much of the second half, Brennan sparking the turnaround with two goals just before half time.

“At quarter time the message was try and slow them down.

“They were getting their hand on the footy, it was fast play and they were scoring.

“We were able to hold them up, slow them down and then get it back on our terms… Kicked a couple of goals late in the second quarter and got the game back on level pegging and we came home really strongly.”

Brennan finished with four majors, clearly the Dogs’ best player on the day.

She was joined by Katie Loynes (18 disposals) and Kaitlyn Ashmore (16 disposals) who were the influential throughout the midfield.

“That’s a breakout game for Katie (Brennan) on the big stage, to kick goals like that, clutch goals, and really have an influence so she would have been right up there as one of the BOGs.

“For Katie to stand up as a leader, still only a young player… to drag her team to be competitive like that was a super effort.”