GOLDEN Square coach Nick Carter hopes his young players use the disappointment of Saturday’s Bendigo league grand final defeat to fuel their desire – just as the Bulldogs did after 2008.

Having lost the 2008 grand final to Eaglehawk by six points, the Bulldogs, spurred on by that defeat, bounced back the following year to win the 2009 flag.

Then they won 2010, then 2011, then 2012 and then 2013 in a five-flag dynasty.

In what was Golden Square’s eighth grand final in the past 11 seasons, the Bulldogs were beaten 12.18 (90) to 8.10 (58) by the Dragons having earlier led by five points at half-time.

“We need to build on this. We had a lot of young kids who played in their first grand final at senior level today that will learn from the experience,” said Carter, who coached the Bulldogs’ 2010 and 2011 flags.

“You can go back to when we lost one back in 2008 before we won those five grand finals in a row, and sometimes you need to feel the pain before the glory comes.

“Sandhurst had gone through that the last couple of years, Strathfieldsaye did before they won their flags, so it’s a good learning for our younger guys and some of our mid-tier players.

“But for the older guys who haven’t lost one before today, no doubt it’s hurting them.”

The Bulldogs conceded eight goals to two after half-time after they were unable to maintain their pressure around the contest and the hard-running Dragons were able to crack the game open.

“I thought the boys played to the gameplan well in the first half, but in the third quarter Sandhurst got a bit more of the inside ball, which got their outside game going,” Carter said.

“We could have got a bit more scoreboard pressure on when the wind was up in the first quarter (3.3), which probably hurt us in the long run, but to Sandhurst’s credit, as soon as they cracked open our defensive structures they really got their game going.”

The best player for Golden Square in his final game was the retiring Simon Rosa, who was awarded the AFL Victoria Medal for his smooth midfield performance.

“I spoke after the game about Simon’s commitment and leadership to the club, and probably football in Bendigo in general,” Carter said.

“There’s not many people who can get to his level and try to leave the place better than when he started, and Simon has certainly done that.

“I think he’s the best I’ve seen in country Victoria when it comes to finals footy and he showed that again today, but it’s also the leadership he shows off the field.”

It was a disappointing day for the Carters, with Nick’s younger brother, Christian, the coach of the beaten Bulldogs’ reserves.