AFTER a tough first three weeks of the AFL Women’s season, the Western Bulldogs are on the board for 2024 after a win over Collingwood yesterday.

Speaking post match, Bulldogs’ coach Tamara Hyett was a happy woman, noting that she was “happy for everyone at the club. Staff, players, coaches, and we’ve got a really supportive group behind us. So yeah, just really, really proud and happy for everyone involved.”

When asked whether the win took some pressure off, Hyett said it was more about reward.

“I don’t know whether it’s pressure, I think it’s probably reward for what the players have been engaging in and committing to,” she said. “That’s the most pleasing thing is, yeah, the scoreboard looked flattering for us, but what I’m most pleased about is that we stuck to our processes.”

Hyett did confirm that energy levels were high within the group.

“Well, it always helps when you win,” Hyett said.

“So I’m sure the energy levels will be good going into the game against Sydney. “But yeah, we were showing glimpses of what we can do, but we’ve got to be able to put it together for four quarters.

“It’s an addictive feeling winning, but it doesn’t happen automatically. “You still have to work hard at it.”

Looking from Round 1 until yesterday, Hyett that the biggest improvement from then until now was the “belief and trust” of the gameplan and each other.

“I think that it’s building cohesion,” she said. “We’ve had a big turnover and they’re just getting to spend more time together, not just on the park, but actually at training as well.”

Looking more specifically at yesterday’s match, the biggest improvement for the Bulldogs was that “we did the basics well” according to Hyett.

“Positioning at stoppage, contested layering, but then also playing what they gave us. That’s just building game awareness within the group. So, yeah, really pleasing that we did the basics well, which I think helped.”

Hyett also addressed how the Bulldogs worked back into the game after Collingwood had a strong start.

“We probably went away from a couple of things structurally, which we just had to reposition and reset at quarter time and to the players credit, they really stuck to that and proof’s in the pudding,” she said.