Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has lauded his players' ability to grind out a result, ensuring captain Marcus Bontempelli celebrated his 200th AFL game with a 29-point win over Hawthorn.
The Bulldogs missed hard-nosed midfielder Tom Liberatore, who was sidelined under concussion protocols, and were beaten "reasonably convincingly" around the contest in the first half.
But Caleb Daniel (27 disposals, six clearances), Jack Macrae (26, six), Adam Treloar (23, four), Bailey Smith (24, six) and Bontempelli (20, six) all lifted to help the Dogs to a 14.10 (94) to 9.11 (65) victory at Marvel Stadium.
It was the Hawks' (1-6) fourth straight loss, leaving them anchored to the bottom of the ladder, while the Bulldogs (4-3) are ahead on the win-loss ledger for the first time this season.
More than 40,000 fans were on hand to pay tribute to Bontempelli in his milestone match and Beveridge was bemused that his side gave Hawthorn the upper hand, forcing them to claw their way back into the contest.
The Bulldogs trailed by three points at halftime and kicked seven goals to two after the main break.
"It was tremendous to see our supporters here and our players knew they'd be here, so for Hawthorn to have the electricity in the game early is a credit to them," Beveridge said.
"It really should've been an occasion where we got out of the blocks and this is part of our challenge to continue to scale up in games like this and really find the upper hand."
Bontempelli wasn't at his scintillating best, kept quiet in patches by Conor Nash as Hawthorn threatened a boilover.
But the Brownlow Medal fancy finished with a game-high four goal assists and made his presence felt in an influential second quarter, tallying nine disposals and four clearances.
"When you need a little bit of an adrenaline kick through the team you're relying on individuals to inspire a little bit and more often than not Marcus will be the one who pulls a lever," Beveridge said.
"We saw that again today and it's not a high-quantity game for many players but the quality of his output (made a difference)."
Aaron Naughton kicked four goals and popular young livewire Arthur Jones booted the sealer - his first AFL goal - to spark celebrations in the final few minutes.
Hawks midfielders Will Day (30 touches, six clearances, one goal), James Worpel (25, eight, one) and Jai Newcombe (24, 10, two) took up the fight with the Dogs' engine room.
Veteran forward Luke Breust (three goals) was a handful in attack before halftime and spearhead Mitch Lewis impressed in his first game of the season on return a knee injury.
Lewis was wayward in front of goal, kicking 1.4 from 16 disposals and 11 marks.
Hawks coach Sam Mitchell was pleased with ruckman Ned Reeves and defender Blake Hardwick, who kept dangerous forward Cody Weightman to just three disposals.
"A lot of those aspects went really well but at the end of the day they're a good side and we just couldn't stay with them for long enough," Mitchell said.
