WESTERN Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke said it was a tough day out, but his side was able to grind its way past the Saints in a Pride Round battle, coming out on top, 4.11 (35) to 3.2 (20) at Mars Stadium on Sunday. After trailing by a point at half-time – having booted 1.7 to St Kilda’s 2.2 – the Bulldogs slotted 3.4 in the second half to run over the top of the Saints and claim a 15-point win.

Burke said the result “certainly beats losing” and he enjoyed everything that came with Pride Round, which included a “big crowd and a great atmosphere”. Though it was frustrating at times, Burke had belief in his side to get over the line.

“It was a big arm wrestle and we knew it was going to be so we set ourselves for that,” Burke said. “We thought if we just keep plugging away, at some stage we’ll break down the wall and that’s what we did.”

The inaccuracy in front of goal was a “double-edged sword” for the Bulldogs coach, with Burke pleased the team could get so many looks on goal, but frustrating they could not convert. However he was pleased with what the team was able to do from a defensive standpoint to ensure they were not heavily scored against, and were able to lock the ball inside 50.

There were a number of positional moves in the game, with Sarah Hartwig back up forward having moved there in recent weeks, Eleanor Brown into the midfield from defence, and a couple of hard-working midfielders filling their roles in defence.

“(We’re) still finding out the best way to use individual talents,” Burke said. “Twiggy (Hartwig) one day will click for her up forward and she’ll come out and she’ll dominate, but at the moment when the ball hits the ground she gives us forward pressure which is really, really good. Browny’s running ability is even the way she came on in the first quarter, we were a little bit stagnant, she ran past for the handball, two, three times, she spread really well.

“It’s something that our other midfielders, who are great midfielders but they don’t have that ability so she adds something else in there. We had Lizzy G in the backline and Elle Bennetts in the backline as well. We’re still finding out the best way to use individual talents.”

In one of the most unique aspects of the league, Burke was able to enjoy the bragging rights over daughter Alice, able to finally square the ledger between the two after the younger Burke got the win a couple of years back.

“I will rub it in mercilessly, don’t worry about that,” Burke said. “I think we played them first round two seasons ago and she’s been living out dining on that one ever since, so it’s my turn now. As my wife said on the way, she said I don’t want to speak out of turn but I hope you win but I hope Alice plays really well and from what I saw I think she had a good game, so the Burke family should be pretty happy.”

The breakthrough victory – which snapped three consecutive losses – put the Bulldogs back in the eight, with Gold Coast’s heavy loss to Melbourne handing the Suns a similar beating to the percentage that Burke’s side received the week before. With two rounds remaining, the Bulldogs just need to keep winning in order to secure a spot in the finals, something Burke is well aware of .

“The good thing is that it’s in our hands,” Burke said. “We win two games, we get to play the week after, it’s as simple as that. If we drop some that we shouldn’t then it makes it tough. We’ve been in this position in the last couple of years.

“This was probably the game that we dropped in the last couple of years and that’s put us behind the eight ball sort of chasing to get in, so to win it today that’s probably pleasing. I’ve resisted looking at the ladder, it doesn’t do me any good, the old fella.”

The Western Bulldogs make the trip to Perth next week to take on West Coast, before returning to Melbourne to lock horns with Carlton in a Friday night fixture to close out the regular season.