The Western Bulldogs overcame a sluggish start to defeat Hawthorn by 42 points on Friday night at Marvel Stadium.

The Hawks shot out to a 26 point-lead early in the second quarter, before the Bulldogs went on a stunning 13-goal run over 65 minutes of football, which was only broken early in the final term.

In the end it was a 68-point turnaround for a Dogs team which scored 125 points for the second successive week.

The win was the Bulldogs’ eighth of the campaign and temporarily catapulted them inside the top eight with eight games remaining.

It also marked the 100^th win for Luke Beveridge as coach of the Club.

After being shaded around the ball in the early stages, it was a dominant midfield brigade for the Dogs which was the catalyst for the turnaround, led by the likes of hart nuts Tom Liberatore, Jack Macrae, Josh Dunkley and Marcus Bontempelli.

By the end of the game, the Bulldogs had won the contested possession count by 19 and the clearances by nine.

On the eve of his 200^th AFL game, ball magnet Macrae racked up 31 possessions.  Incredibly it was the 100^th time in his career he has amassed 30 or more disposals.

Liberatore was particularly influential, finishing with 30 touches (16 contested), 11 clearances, six inside 50s and a goal.  His vision and clean hands were a feature as he continually set up his team-mates.

It was another impressive spread of goalkickers, with 12 Bulldogs hitting the scoreboard.

Aaron Naughton added another three goals to his season tally to make it 38 for the year so far, but it was the performance of Rhylee West which turned heads.

Playing in his sixth straight game since being recalled to the senior team, West kicked 3.3 from 19 disposals and had 13 score involvements to go with five tackles.

In defence, Bailey Dale continued his brilliant season with 28 possessions and a goal, while Ryan Gardner was brilliant in the air with nine marks to go with 20 touches of his own.

Ed Richards was the only Bulldogs player unable to complete the match, after he was subbed out with concussion during the second quarter.

The Bulldogs are set to embark on back-to-back interstate games against top-eight teams, starting with a clash with Brisbane at the Gabba next Thursday night.

WESTERN BULLDOGS     1.2          6.6          12.10     19.11 (125)
HAWTHORN                      4.3          5.7          5.11        12.11 (83)

GOALS  
Western Bulldogs: Naughton 3, West 3, Johannisen 2, Dunkley 2, Schache 2, O'Brien, Sweet, Bontempelli, McComb, Ugle-Hagan, Liberatore, Dale
Hawthorn: Lewis 4, Breust 3, Moore 2, Reeves, Butler, Newcombe

BEST  
Western Bulldogs: Liberatore, Bontempelli, Macrae, West, Naughton, Dale, Dunkley
Hawthorn: Scrimshaw, Worpel, Lewis, Reeves, Breust, Impey

INJURIES  
Western Bulldogs: Richards (concussion)
Hawthorn: Nil 

MEDICAL SUBS
Western Bulldogs: Lachlan McNeil (replaced Richards in the second quarter)
Hawthorn: Josh Morris (unused)