"Well, that sucks." It was the simplest and clearest way Dubbo Demons women's coach Peter Martinoli could sum up Saturday’s grand final loss to the Bathurst Giants.

Despite the disappointing result, Martinoli said he is incredibly proud of his team and how far they've come in the past season.

"Everyone wants to be the winner on grand final day, but unfortunately there can only ever be one. I'm extremely proud of the effort that everyone put in, everyone fought to that last second and didn't give up, even when it looked like it might have been out of reach everyone still gave their all."

This season the Demons have welcomed more than 10 new players to the team, with many debuting not only for the club, but in the sport.

Saturday's game was an excellent display of women's football in the Central West.

"It was definitely a game played between the two arcs. It was a lot of back and forth and it was really just a lucky bounce or a lucky break that that led to a goal for them and unfortunately we couldn't capitalise by doing the same thing," he said.

With the 2022 season over, Martinoli is already excited for next year, when he hopes to build on this loss.

"You've got to lose a grand final to know how to win a grand final unfortunately. Hopefully everyone understands that and knows how much this hurts and uses it next year as that little bit of extra motivation."

The Demons travelled with a massive team to Bathurst for the game, with a full bench of eight. Martinoli said it was incredibly difficult to run rotations. With 16 players on the field all doing their job, Martinoli said it can become tempting to have rotations for the sake of rotations, which can be dangerous.

"You don't want to disrupt anyone. If people are playing well, you want to keep them on and reward their efforts.

"There's also that element of I want to give everyone game time because they've done so much for us throughout the year. They've worked hard for 15 rounds to get here."

Though deep in Bathurst territory, the Demons loyal were out loud and proud, spurred on further by support from other clubs in the league.

"We just can't thank enough everyone who travelled down to Bathurst to support us, and we owe a massive thanks to the Bathurst Bushrangers and Orange Tigers for coming out and being very vocal for us."

Martinoli was unable to select a best on field, with too much pride for every player that stepped on field.

The day wasn't without a win though, with much loved player Kristen Coady making a triumphant return to the team list.

After breaking her leg during play in round seven, Coady had the goal of walking on the field on grand final day with her team. Though she wasn't able to play, the cheers could be heard blocks away as she made her way through the banner with the team.

The Demons will return next season raring to go, ready to take their success one step further. Until then, they're still pretty happy to be the second best in the west.