In an entertaining inaugural Good Friday clash at Etihad Stadium, the Roos were edged out by three points by a Western Bulldogs side that rebounded from a five-goal deficit in the third term.

The Roos showed plenty of fight, and were well led by skipper Jack Ziebell (27 disposals), Ben Cunnington (33) and key forward Ben Brown (four goals), while the ruck tandem of Todd Goldstein and Braydon Preuss has, according to the coach, only "scratched the surface". But their hopes of a maiden win this season were finally dashed when Lindsay Thomas' shot at goal on the cusp of the final siren went through for only a point.

The Roos are winless from four rounds and head to Perth next weekend to face a rejuvenated Fremantle at Domain Stadium.

"We were really disappointed. I think the framework of what we are trying to do is hopefully on show for all to see. As coaches we feel we are doing a lot right but not getting a lot of reward for that effort," Scott said.

"But we could sit here and think: 'Oh gee, we were unlucky' but that wouldn't be the case. We didn't capitalise on our dominance in parts of the game and we gave up too many easy goals at crucial times when the flow of the game was going our way."

The Roos had struggled in final terms this season but that changed with four goals against the Bulldogs.

"I thought the hunger and fight was fantastic. I thought they really had a lot of belief that they could get over the line," he said.

"The Dogs put a bit of a gap on us late. It came down to the final second. If that last kick goes straight, we are sitting here in victory but, if we were sitting here in victory because that last kick was straight, there are still some things - rookie errors made by a bit of a rookie team.

"But if the framework and fundamentals were not there, then we would be really concerned. But, really, it's a bit of a few rookie errors and some general polish that hurt us."

While agreeing with the new third-man-up rule in principle, Scott said the manner in which it was interpreted by the umpires needed tweaking. The Roos were angered when a free kick in the shadows of three-quarter-time was awarded against Andrew Swallow for an apparent shepherd on Josh Dunkley. The Bulldog missed the set shot.

"Our midfield coaches weren't overly happy. I didn't have enough time to worry about it, it was spilt milk a little bit by that stage," Scott said.

"I haven't gone back and had a look at it again. The umpires will have to look at how they adjudicate that rule because, clearly, there are some anomalies at the moment and just some issues with adjudicating it.

"But what I will say about it is that I like the fact that we are protecting the 200-plus-centimetre players in the game. You can't jump third-up at the centre bounce, so why should you be allowed to do that around the ground? We don't want to breed our big, tall, beanpole-type ruckman out of the game, so the rule in itself, philosophically, I agree with but clearly the adjudication and the execution needs a bit of tweaking."