Essendon vice-captain Tash Hardy has backed in her fledgling side to notch its first win sooner rather than later.

Speaking on VFL Rewind on Monday, the 34-year-old commended the fight and maturity the young Bombers have shown in their first three matches – unquestionably essential qualities, as Essendon has been given no quarter in its opposition thus far in 2018.

Two of the first three matches have been against top-four sides Hawthorn in round one and the NT Thunder in round three when the Bombers had to travel to Darwin.

After stunning the heavily favoured Thunder with the first three goals of the game, Hardy’s team was worn down by a team with 12 AFLW players and spent the second half on the back foot.

However, she says that far from dwelling on licking its wounds, the playing group returned to Melbourne as a galvanised unit.

“It was a really good experience. I think over the last three months we’ve become quite a tight-knit group and we’re really enjoying training with each other and playing with each other,” Hardy said.

“So going away to the NT was just an added extra for us as a group to be able to come closer and get to know each other a little bit more.

“We had a great first quarter and that’s a snippet of how we want to play and how we can play…it was comforting to know that we can put it up, we just need to work on some consistency and push it through to four quarters.”

The Bombers take on the Southern Saints in round four on Sunday. Hardy says that although her side is aware of its challenges, Essendon is only improving week on week.

“It’s really been pushed by [coach Brendan] Major and the coaching staff for the last three to four weeks that we are a new team. We’ve got 18, 19 and 20-year-olds throughout our team and we need to really stick to our structures and our game plan.

“I think the girls are really on board and know exactly what Major’s putting out and I think we’ll definitely get the win soon.”