WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has enjoyed a dream start to his career at the kennel with his side out shining top-eight aspirants Richmond by 19 points at the MCG.

The Bulldogs held off a fast-finishing Tigers to seal a 12.13 (85) to 9.12 (66) victory in front of 49,945 fans.  

The last time the Bulldogs won the opening two games of the season was back in 2009 when Rodney Eade coached the club.

The Bulldogs lead at every change and despite a late charge from the Tigers in the final term, the young side showed composure beyond their years to secure their second win for the year.

"We're really pleased. We thought we squandered a few opportunities and in big games against good opposition you can't afford to do that too many times. We held our nerve," Beveridge said.

"The players, under some duress particularly late in the game, composed themselves and controlled the footy a little bit. There was lots of positives signs there."

Marcus Bontempelli was once against outstanding for the Bulldogs, finishing with 27 touches, a game-high 10 tackles and eight inside 50s.

Mitch Wallis (26 disposals, eight clearances) and Jack Macrae (26 disposals) were also influential in the middle and well assisted by Tory Dickson (four goals), captain Bob Murphy and veteran Matthew Boyd.

Young Bulldogs defender Michael Talia did a terrific job limiting the influence of Tigers spearhead Jack Riewoldt. 

Riewoldt had just three touches and one mark in the opening half, and while he slowly worked his way into the game, finishing with nine touches and two goals, he was well held by the Dogs' defence. 

Despite key forwards Tom Boyd and Ayce Cordy having no impact on the game, the Bulldogs still managed to find avenues to goal. 

Dickson finished the game with four majors, former Bomber Stewart Crameri kicked two, while an inaccurate Jake Stringer contributed two as well.

It was a frustrating day for Tigers coach Damien Hardwick.

The Tigers had more contested possessions (144-126), more clearances (34-32) and went inside 50 six more times than the Bulldogs, but they continually butchered the ball going forward.

"Credit to the Bulldogs, I thought they played really well. Their pressure around the contest was very good, and their ability to score when they went inside 50 was very good," a disappointed Hardwick said after the game.

"The fact of the matter is we made too many mistakes, that was one part of the game. The other part of the game, we went inside 50, 54 times, we win three loose ball gets and lay five tackles.

"You're not going to win a game of footy doing that so it's an area we need to improve and we need to improve quickly if we're going to win footy games." 

 

Richmond defender Alex Rance had a field day, restricting highly-prized recruit Boyd to one mark and four disposals, and provided plenty of run out of the backline for the Tigers.

While midfield star Dustin Martin rebounded from his poor performance last week against Carlton to finish the game with 31 touches and five clearances.

Skipper Trent Cotchin had a game-high 34 disposals and seven inside 50s but it wasn't enough to get his side over the line.

After a low-scoring scrappy first half, the Bulldogs broke open the game in the third term.

The forward pressure from Beveridge's men was immense, and they moved the ball quickly with purpose, while the Tigers struggled to find a target in attack and consistently turned over the ball by foot.

Dickson stood up in attack for the Bulldogs with two of the side's five third-term goals.

Stringer, Jarrard Grant and Stewart Crameri also chimed in with majors to extend the Bulldogs half-time lead to 29 points at the final break. 

Two early goals to the Tigers in the final term saw the Bulldogs' lead cut to 16 points but the young Bulldogs brigade steadied the ship with Dickson kicking his fourth. 

The Tigers continued to come at the Bulldogs but each time Beveridge's men had a response and held on for a deserved victory.

RICHMOND                            2.3   3.6    6.8     9.12 (66)
WESTERN BULLDOGS        3.5   5.8   10.13   12.13 (85)

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 2, Griffiths, Grimes, Gordon, Lloyd, Martin, Newman, Petterd
Western Bulldogs: Dickson 4, Crameri 2, Stringer 2, Grant, Honeychurch, Wallis, Wood

BEST 
Richmond: Rance, Martin, Cotchin, Miles, McIntosh
Western Bulldogs: Dickson, Wallis, Bontempelli, Macrae, Talia, M.Boyd

INJURIES 
Richmond: Edwards (calf) replaced in selected side by Ricky Petterd, Lambert (shoulder)
Western Bulldogs: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Nathan Gordon replaced Kane Lambert (shoulder) during the third quarter
Western Bulldogs: Brett Goodes replaced Ayce Cordy during the third quarter 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Bannister, Stephens, McInerney

Official crowd: 49,945 at MCG