HAWTHORN got off the mark in the AFLW season with a win over the Bulldogs on the weekend.

It was a nail biting, seesawing clash it was the Hawks who ultimately prevailed, and Hawthorn coach Bec Goddard said that her message to her troops at three quarter time was all about the contest.

“We had a bit of a chat around contest and we felt like our third quarter we just dropped off at the contest,” Goddard said.

“Bulldogs brought an enormous amount of pressure and we didn’t withstand it as well as we would have liked to so if we got the contest done in the fourth we felt confident we were going to come through with the win.”

Goddard also praised her leaders, including the likes of Tilly Lucas-Rodd and Emily Bates who helped keep the team on track as the game got tight.

“I think it was about our mature players stepping up and running the game from that perspective,” she said. “Batesy did some really important things in the death of the game, same with TLR, just soaking up seconds on the clock and being able to show the young players on our team the way that we need to play when those games are tight at the end.”

“In the end that’s how we got over the line at the very end, a bit of maturity, a bit of calmness and finding a way to grind it out.”

The team’s three inclusions this week Emily Everist, Laura Elliott and Lucy Wales also saw praise from the coach in regards to their contributions to the win.

“Laura Elliot I thought was phenomenal in the back half,” she said. “Just came in like she’d never been gone. Lucy Wales had her first game back today, they did some really important things for us and we looked different. I felt with a bit of extra run going wide on the ground, it was a good result.”

Goddard also praised Greta Bodey, who joined Goddard to chat post match.

“I can’t say enough great things about Greta,” Goddard said with a smile.

“Last week it was a quiet week and it wasn’t the way we wanted to play and I knew that if we got the ball out into a bit of space today and we got moving wide then Greta was going to see the ball but having mature players like Greta involved in a tight contest in the end is really important.”

When asked about what it was like to pick up the first win at her new club alongside Bates, Bodey smiled.

“It was very special,” she said. “I think it was just so pleasing that everyone played their role across the whole park. People in the backline, forward, middle, everyone stepped up and played their role and for us to get our first win is really exciting and to do it with Batesy was really special.”