The atmosphere in the Bulldog rooms after the game was party-like, with plenty of laughter, grinning and backslapping.
In his media conference just minutes later, coach Rodney Eade was far more measured, well aware that round 14 is a long way from the end of September.
But who could deny the players their time in the sun?
The Dogs were the first team to hold Hawthorn goalless in a first half since 1979, and not only swamped the Hawks in terms of possessions, but also in tackles, desperation, efficiency and defensive pressure.
Second-gamer Sam Reid couldn't get the grin off his face after the match.
The young midfielder collected 11 possessions – five of them contested – and did a good job on Hawk Ben McGlynn.
After the game he told westernbulldogs.com.au that the strong start was a pre-match focus.
"We knew they'd come out physical and we wanted to get on top of them early, and we wore them down towards the end," he said.
"We wanted to come out really hard and we did that ... and it put them on the back foot.
"We had a few less tackles in the second quarter, but the inferred pressure was still there, and it left them guessing where we were coming from."
The Hawks got their first goal early in the third quarter and outscored the Dogs four goals to two in the term, but Reid said the team was focused on running out the match.
"We wanted a four-quarter effort – we slackened off in the third, but we really wanted to win the fourth quarter.
"We knew that they were nearly the worst team in the AFL for fourth quarters, and we were nearly the best, so we wanted to run over them then."
The 19-year-old said playing on McGlynn was a good experience.
"He runs really hard, but I had a bit of height on him.
"It was a lot quicker than the VFL, and you've got to get rid of it a lot quicker – I think I got caught once, where I didn't get rid of it quick enough.
"It's probably the speed factor – you're just running continuously, and then you've got to have quick hands in the midfield."
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
