COMING off a massive upset win over Brisbane up in the Sunshine State might have lifted the external lid a little in terms of their season expectations, but Carlton coach Matthew Buck knew his side would need to fight tooth-and-nail against a rugged Bulldogs side in Round 4 of the AFL Women’s. The Blues did just that and came away with the 16-point win at Ikon Park, having to change tact mid-game to take home the four points.

It was a game of inches for the most part, with the Blues able to kick clear in the third term with the only two goals of the quarter, and that held them in good stead for the rest despite an early major from the visitors in the fourth term. Buck said he “loved the game” and the way where the Blues were not only challenged in a different way to the Lions, but that his team was able to adjust and still get the victory.

” The game challenged us in a different way this week as opposed to last week and we want to play an open, fast brand of footy, and today the Bulldogs to their credit were good enough to get a handle on us in that and so we had to win a different way,” Buck said.

“They asked us to go into the contest and we probably looked to take the game forward a little bit harder, and off the back of that we managed to score, so proud of our team to be able to adjust in game with how we wanted to play and really glad that they were brave enough to go at it in the first half as well.”

The Bulldogs are a known contested ball-winning side, and the Blues were able to beat them in both the clearances (25-20) and contested possessions (110-108), then still lead the Dogs on the outside with 27 more uncontested possessions and nine more marks.

“We always knew they’d challenge us strongly in that area, and obviously (Jess) Good was out through injury for this game and Maddi Torpey stepped in and did an amazing job,” Buck said. “I think she brought her own fan club as well which was really nice for the game.

“The way we competed at contests we really liked and we enjoyed. We’ve hung our hat on that now going into our third season, so proud of the girls to see we could get at them as well.”

One particular standout for the Blues was Dayna Finn who continued her incredible rise with 31 disposals, six marks, four tackles and five inside 50s. Buck said it was great to see the Irishwoman get reward for her work over the off-season.

“Dana’s backed up from a terrific game last week and it’s credit to Dana and the work she did over the preseason,” he said. “Went home to Ireland, so she had to slog it out in another winter to get her fitness to where it is. She’s now an elite athlete and an elite performer.

“To see her what she can produce in-game now, I’m really ecstatic for her, but the credit all goes to Dayna for the hard work she’s put in. She’s ruthless in the way she prepares and then she’s ruthless in the way she plays and over the last two weeks we’ve really seen that.”

Buck was further pleased with the way his defensive back six was able to force turnovers and transition the ball forward. He said while their fast gamestyle did not always come off due to the Dogs denying them the run, they still showed glimpses of what they can do.

“To play some exciting footy in our transition, a big part of that is to win the ball back,” Buck said. “Harriet Cordner, Maddy Hendrie down there who was just terrific today, and Poppy Scholz as a youngster. Those three big keys for us really control the air and gives us the ability to win the ball back and look to play off that.

“The way they defend and the way they support our offence, that’s the way Ciara Fitzgerald, Amelia Velardo and Darcy Vescio get involved, and they give us really strong bounce off there. They’re measly, they don’t want any scores against them and they were pretty strong in that area.”

Carlton is sitting pretty at 3-1 after four rounds and tackles Gold Coast Suns at Ikon Park on Saturday afternoon from 2:35pm