South Fremantle veteran Ethan Hughes says the lessons his side learnt throughout a recent run of losses will hold them in good stead as they gear up for another attack on the premiership flag.
The reigning premiers opened their 2026 campaign by winning five of their first six games but then endured three consecutive defeats, including to cross-town rivals East Fremantle in the marquee WA Day Derby and East Perth in their first official meeting since last year’s grand final.
After regrouping over a bye last weekend, they returned to the winners list on Saturday, comfortably accounting for last-placed West Perth by 39 points at Fremantle Community Bank Oval
Hughes said his side’s reaction to their mid-season slump “wasn’t over the top”.
“Clearly, it’s not good losing games, but we took a lot of learnings out of it,” Hughes said.
“The past couple of weeks, we’ve really focused on our team defence across the whole ground. We really brought that into this week’s game and showed we are able to defend the whole ground well.
“We got back to our contest game, got some ball movement going, and we were able to put a score on the board, which certainly helped us (on Saturday).
“Over the last couple of weeks, we felt like the ball was just flying out the front of stoppages a little bit, so it was nice we were able to fix that up and have our guys working together.
“We had some great work from our younger guys coming up into the side today — Sam Otto, Riley Colborne, they really stood up and won their one-on-one battles.”
The Bulldogs have moved into third on the ladder on the back of their first win since round six, figuring ahead of Perth on percentage.
They sit one win adrift of pacesetters Peel Thunder and Claremont and four premiership points ahead of the four sides with 5-5 win-loss records in what is shaping as an intriguing race for places in the finals.
Camera IconEthan Hughes says South Fremantle did not panic in their recent run of losses. Credit: Carwyn Monck/The West Australian
Hughes said his side’s focus would remain firmly on themselves in the second half of the season.
“It’s really tight, the top five of the ladder now,” he said.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good spot. That will take care of itself, once we put some good performances together.”
Some injury concerns did emerge out of the Bulldogs’ win over the Falcons, with Jordan Boullineau’s day ended early by an ankle issue and Colborne coming from the ground in the final minutes with a wrist issue.