Hunt said the Demons, who have one win from the opening five Warrnambool and District league rounds, would take positives out of the 10.15 (75) to 8.9 (57) loss.

They were just 12 points down at the final change.

“We were competitive for three quarters,” he said.

“The term I use sometimes is ‘we don’t bat deep enough’.

“We are playing the right style of footy and doing a lot of things right but can’t finish the game.

“I was proud of them today.”

Hunt said the Demons’ morale was high – the sign of a group intent on improving.

“They’re playing for each other,” he said.

“The boys are working hard and building credibility by these performances.

“Our contested footy is good and I thought we unloaded our forward line and have gone with pace.

“We have a reasonable press at times but haven’t mastered it.”

Hunt, who credited the Demons’ even batch of contributors, said Lyndon Alsop did a commendable job on Dogs forward Mark Murphy, limiting the former North Warrnambool Eagle to one goal.

Dogs coach Darcy Lewis praised the Dees.

“The game was in the balance the whole day really,” he said. “The only difference in the end was we had more scoring power.”

Teenage boxer Jye Clark made his senior debut for the Dogs.