Steady gains have been made this season and while they are still only partway through the journey, Senior Coach Brendan McCartney is pleased with the progression.

The Bulldogs fielded their least experienced team of the season in the win against the Gold Coast on Saturday in regards to average games (62.2) and players with less than 50 games experience (13).

The scoreboard from the weekend told another story, with nine of the ten goal kickers in their fourth season or less.

“That’s been a big step for our group and at the same time we’ve got some really good guys up around 25-30 games and their talent was obvious,” McCartney said.

“Their understanding of the game yesterday to link together and know what to do was quite apparent.

“We’ve added depth – I think we’re making steps but the scoreboard measures you and the ladder doesn’t lie, that’s where we are and we have got to get better.”

The Bulldogs are two wins off their benchmark of eight last season, however they have won more quarters than the entire of 2013 (12 more quarters than this time last year).

McCartney said it was their ability to hang on in games and remain in striking distance until late in the final term that underlines the improvement this season.

The Bulldogs have been in all but two of their 16 games this season, showing they are competitive for longer periods, an outcome McCartney wanted to achieve at the start of the season.

“Every other game there has been a time at some stage in the last quarter where we were right in the game,” he said.

“What we’ve been able to do is narrow that gap and be pretty tough and competitive for most of the day.”