The Bushies made a bright start to the clash at Preston City Oval, but were unable to match the Knights in the contested stakes as they pulled away to an eventual 52-point win.
The result handed the Bushies their second consecutive loss after notching two wins to kick-start the year.
Still, Saunders has already identified where the work needs to be done ahead of this week’s clash against Sandringham at Deakin Reserve.
“The Knights were able to apply a lot of pressure around the contest, and we probably just fell away in that area a bit,” he said.
“They are areas that we’re continuing to look at and build on.
“We’ll get some good footage out of that and come away with some learnings.”
The Bushies weren’t without their contributors, with Saunders labelling Shepparton United’s Lana Carroll a “general” in defence following two consecutive games in the best players' column.
“She was a real general down back for us,” Saunders said.
“We spoke about winning the contest, and that’s one of her strengths, which is to win the ball.
“Lana was super for us across half-back, and at times, she ran through midfield as well.”
Currently ninth, the Bushies have a chance to climb back into the top eight when they face the Dragons on Sunday at 1pm.
It will also mark the first time since August in 2024 that the top-age girls’ team have played at Deakin Reserve.
“Any time we get to play locally, whether it be there, Wangaratta, Lavington, we really enjoy that side of things,” Saunders said.
“It’s obviously a program where there’s a lot of travel, so any chance to limit that a little bit is positive.
“We back our girls to be competitive one-on-one, it will just be about how long we can sustain that.”
Meanwhile, the Murray Bushrangers boys have another bye before facing Tasmania next Sunday.
The Bushies currently sit 17th with a 1-4 record.
