The unbeaten Bulldogs ended up with 4.6 (30) to 2.1 (13) victory but were kept to their lowest score of the year.

The teams meet again on Saturday at 10.20am in a second semi-final at Invermay Park.

The winner will progress to the NTFAW division one grand final.

"It was a nice wake-up call for us because we hadn't really had any strong games going into that last round and coming up to finals," Child said.

"It was good to have a tough challenge before that and get the girls up and about before finals."

READ MORE: NTFAW first semi-final: Club building culture with new traditions

The Bulldogs will be missing defender Lynn Flint (knee) and Sam Morrison (COVID).

They've knuckled down this week at training to improve on last weekend's performance.

"We had a big regroup at training with everyone on the track," Child said.

"The girls are really focused this week and they've done some self-reflection and worked out what we want out of this season again.

"It's been pretty much going back to day one of training and looking at what our goals were for this year and what we wanted to get out of it."

The Bulldogs won the 2019 women's premiership and have an experienced line-up.

"The majority of the team have been there from the very beginning and a lot of the girls have done their junior football through South as well," Child said.

"It's a really good culture.

"That they all want to stick around for the club and their mates."

Child had high praise for her assistant coach Aaron Viney who has mentored her during her first season at the helm.

She also spoke of the strong link between the club's under-17 girls' side and the women's team.

"Half of the under-17s have trained with us all year which has been really encouraging," she said.

Senior player Aprille Crooks coached the under-17s this season.

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