The Western Bulldogs’ skipper Ellie Blackburn praised Bruton for her efforts on the field in the first AFLW game at Mars Stadium in Ballarat, despite the Doggies losing to Cartlon by 16 points.

Blackburn said Bruton, who hails from Trentham and played at Golden Point as a junior, performed well in her debut match for the club.

Bruton kicked a memorable goal in the third quarter.

“I think she went really well,” Blackburn said.

“She’s going to fit into our team so nicely.”

On Saturday, Bruton played alongside teammate Laura Bailey, who also has history in Ballarat.

Bailey attended Wendouree Primary School and Ballarat High School as a youngster before being drafted to the Bulldogs for the inaugural AFLW season.

She was part of the side that finished at the bottom of the ladder last year and has kept her place on the list for the 2018 campaign.

“A bit of a hometown hero, Laura Bailey,” Blackburn said.

“It’s great for her to come up here and play footy up here.”

Both the Western Bulldogs and Carlton have until the first weekend in February to fine tune their games ahead of round one matches.

The Blues will open the new season with a clash against rivals Collingwood at Ikon Park on Friday, February 2, before the Bulldogs host Fremantle at Whitten Oval on the Sunday.

There is seven rounds before the grand final.

The two teams were level at the first break, but the Blues led narrowly at every other change to record the 8.8 (56) to 6.4 (40) result.

The Bulldogs trailed by just three points at one stage during the last quarter, but the Blues then managed to kick the only two goals of the final term.

Despite the loss, Blackburn said there were some good signs ahead of the team’s round one clash early next month.

“I think we worked to our structures the way we wanted to and our game plan and the way the team morale went, I think we took a lot of positives out of that,” Blackburn said.

“We worked on those things extremely well and I think moving into round one, there is a lot of positives looking forward.”

Blackburn said Mars Stadium, which held a good crowd on Saturday evening, could be an AFLW venue of the future. “It’s good for the Ballarat community. We’ve got so many supporters out here tonight and to see everyone here, I think it’s great,” she said.