The Bulldogs have improved to 6-2 on the back of a dominant display at Mars Stadium in Ballarat, keeping the Saints to just one point for the game. 

The conditions made things tough, bitingly cold and sideways rain sweeping through - the Bulldogs able to adapt better to the slippery deck, willing to engage one percenters, kick the ball off the deck and gain ground at all costs.

Isabelle Pritchard (35 disposals, six clearances) was outstanding through the middle once again, as was Alice Edmonds (19 disposals, 29 hitouts) through the ruck, while a permanent role in the midfield suited former defender Cleo Buttifant, who kicked opened the scoring to claim her second-career goal. 

Where the Bulldogs were able to play into the conditions, the Saints struggled to make the most of their opportunities - too often handing the ball back to the Dogs under pressure, which they then turned into attack.

The contested possession count was telling, with the Bulldogs winning the count 128-84 despite wet conditions which called for a willingness to get busy in the contest.

It was by virtue of the Bulldogs' elite pressure and territory game, unsurprisingly led by Elaine Grigg (seven tackles) and Edmonds (six).

But it did take some time for them to kick into gear and start getting busy on the scoreboard. An inaccurate first term was somewhat rectified in the second, but they will certainly have rued their missed opportunities.

The play lived on the Bulldogs' forward flank for the duration of the third quarter, as the Dogs trapped St Kilda tight up on the boundary, but couldn't generate productive shots on goal themselves.

Jesse Tawhaio-Wardlaw came up into the ruck to try and get involved in the play, and Charlotte Baskaran worked off the half back line to try and generate some rebound.

When in doubt, soccer it
In treacherous conditions, the Dogs were trying to balance their want to go fast, with a slippery footy.

Breaking through St Kilda's forward press, the home side got players out on the fast break, and instead of trying to gather the footy to send it forward, they adapted beautifully to the conditions, soccering it along the ground to continue to gain ground. Emma McDonald set it up into the goalsquare beautifully, like the perfect soccer cross, and Ryle Wilcox dramatically got on the end of it to snag her side's third of the afternoon.

Up next

The Bulldogs will open Pride Round with their now-annual pride match against Essendon at Mission Whitten Oval on Friday evening, and the Saints will return home to face Collingwood at RSEA Park on Saturday afternoon.

WESTERN BULLDOGS       1.5    3.9    3.11   3.13 (31)
ST KILDA                           0.0    0.0    0.0    0.1 (1)

GOALS 
Western Bulldogs: Buttifant, Hartwig, Wilcox
St Kilda: Nil

BEST 
Western Bulldogs: Pritchard, Edmonds, Wilcox, Grigg, Cann
St Kilda: Watson, Louvel-Finn, Smith

INJURIES 
Western Bulldogs: Nil
St Kilda: Gee (right shoulder), Forbes (right knee)

Crowd: 1602 at Mars Stadium