The Western Bulldogs will take some important lessons from Friday night’s loss to reigning premiers Richmond, according to experienced defender Easton Wood.

After six consecutive wins to start 2021, the Bulldogs streak was ended by the Tigers at the MCG.

Wood said the Tigers took the ascendancy in some key areas after the main break to take the game away from the Bulldogs.

“We wanted to come out and make sure our energy and our intensity was high (after half time), but they probably lifted to another level as well,” he said.

“It was a shame we couldn’t take that next step in the second half.

“Credit to the Tiges, we know how much of a great team they are and they proved that in spades.

“We were pleased with the first half – we probably could have been doing things a little bit better – but it felt like we were on top.

“As great teams do, and Richmond is, they really responded in the second half.”

The Bulldogs’ defence had their work cut out for them but managed to restrict the Tigers to just 11 goals from 57 inside-50s.

Wood was influential with a team-high 11 marks, supporting key defenders Alex Keath and Zaine Cordy against Richmond stars Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt.

“They’ve got two great players in Riewoldt and Lynch who are massive threats in the air,” Wood said.

“They had an impact – and we’ll have to go back and have a look and see where we could have helped in the air a bit better.”

He believes the Bulldogs will be able to take things away from the game that help them moving forward.

“Every week’s a learning opportunity, this is no different,” Wood said.

“We’ll go and have a look at what we could have done better and move on to the next.”