The Brisbane Lions took all before them in the NAB Cup and looked a million dollars in doing so. The Western Bulldogs struggled greatly, even losing to Freo by 109 points in round 3 of the pre-season competition. What did all that count for when the Dogs took on the heavily fancied Lions at Etihad Stadium on Saturday? Absolutely nothing. Brendan McCartney's young side, minus its best midfielder and captain Matthew Boyd, ran rampant against the shell-shocked visitors. They did it with an uncompromising brand of contested football. Forget everything that happened in the NAB Cup because these Doggies are no pushovers.
How they lined up:
| B: | Picken | Roughead | Morris |
| HB: | Goodes | Young | Johannisen |
| C: | Cooney | Liberatore | Dalhaus |
| HF: | Higgins | Jones | Murphy |
| F: | Giansiracusa | Cordy | Dickson |
| Ruck: | Minson | Griffen | Lower |
| INT: | Wallis | Cross | Stevens Smith |
Key outs: Boyd (Mid), Williams (Def)
By the lines
Defence: Young tall Jordan Roughead was tremendous on Jonathon Brown, holding the Brisbane skipper to just 11 possessions and one goal. An addition to the Dogs' side was 29-year-old debutant Brett Goodes. The brother of Sydney dual Brownlow Medallist Adam looked like he has been in the system for a decade. He played as a loose man in defence and gathered 24 possessions. Dale Morris has not played in two years after a horrific leg injury in 2011 He made a successful return to the back pocket, a position he was named All Australian at in 2008. The Dogs are a different side with him in the backline.
Midfield: The Bulldogs have injected two players who plied their trade in WA last year. Koby Stevens from West Coast, and Nick Lower, who spent two seasons at Freo. Both were instrumental in their win on Saturday. Lower appears to have re-invented himself as a tagger. He completely shut out NAB Cup star Daniel Rich, holding the Lion to just eight disposals. Third-year players and father-son recruits Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis gathered 52 possessions between them on Saturday as the Dogs' midfield didn't miss a beat without its best ball-winner Boyd. Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney looked unhindered by injury for the first time in a long time. His renowned speed is still there, and he showed that his class is, too, with 21 disposals and a goal. As usual, Ryan Griffen was all class, and Will Minson continued his rise as a quality AFL ruckman.
Forwards: Against Brisbane, the Dogs kicked long to their talls, Ayce Cordy, Will Minson and Liam Jones, and speared passes to leading forwards Daniel Giansiracusa, Shaun Higgins, Robert Murphy and Tory Dickson. Seven Bulldogs kicked multiple goals. A player who has been injured far too often in recent seasons has been Higgins. Immensely talented, he had 22 disposals and three goals against the Lions in a heartening display for the Dogs.
Tale of the tape:
Contested possessions: WB 146-136
Uncontested possessions: WB 239-165
Clearances: WB 42-34
Contested marks: WB 11-7
Uncontested marks: WB 105-47
Disposal efficiency: WB 77.4% Bris 67.8%
Kicking efficiency: WB 71% Bris 56.5%
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