Western Bulldogs defender James O’Donnell has lauded his teammates for their growth and maturity in Friday night’s thrilling six-point win over Adelaide.

A special snap from Oskar Baker put the team in front with just two minutes to play, sealing an extra-special win for the undefeated Dogs.

“It’s sort of why we play footy - those sort of wins,” O’Donnell said post-match.

“In the last quarter (Adelaide) just started to get on top – so to come together as a collective and do what we did, it’s just amazing growth through the group.

“It builds a lot of confidence and belief in the work we’ve done, the changes we’ve made and the group that we have.

“If we can put it all together, we can match it with the best. After last year we had a lot of hunger, so to start (the year) this way, while there’s a lot of footy to go it’s good signs going forward.”

Playing in just their third games for the Club, O’Donnell was more than happy to applaud the work of Connor Budarick, Michael Sellwood and Lachie Jaques.

“First of all, they’re amazing blokes. Buds (Budarick) has come in seamlessly, Sellers (Sellwood) provides so much hardness for us and is tough as nails, and Jaquesy (Jaques) is just so composed,” he said.

“They each just add their own strengths and they’ve been amazing to start the year.

“They’ve been some of our best defenders, but I think as a collective we’ve really come together and doubled down on what’s working and it’s coming (to the fore) which is amazing.”

The Bulldogs will have a 16-day break before hosting Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Easter Sunday.

“It would have been a bit sour with the weekend off having lost, so I’m pretty relieved that we’ve won,” O’Donnell said.

“It’s never nice going to a bye with that over you.”