Luke Beveridge has lauded the resilience of his players after the Western Bulldogs rebounded superbly for a crucial upset win over Carlton.
Stung by last weekend's loss to Port Adelaide, the Bulldogs had a solid spread of contributors in the Saturday twilight game at Marvel Stadium and won 14.16 (100) to 12.14 (86).
It keeps the Dogs in the top-eight conversation ahead of next week's massive clash in Geelong against the Cats.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was best afield and kicked four goals, as did Rhylee West, while Beveridge heaped praise on Bailey Dale for his game off half-back.
Crucially, the Dogs kicked four goals to one from centre bounces, which proved the difference.
"We're pretty moved by that one - obviously coming out of last week, when you can throw up all adjectives to describe what it was and what it wasn't," Beveridge said.
Luke Beveridge | Post Match (RD18)
Watch Bevo's press conference following our win over Carlton.
'You don't want the extreme that we saw last week, where we really troughed. We don't want that outlier.
"It's a big one for us in the scheme of the season and everything hangs in the balance, you make your choices."
Asked about next week, Beveridge smiled ruefully and said: "They don't shrink, the challenges."
ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS
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01:05
Inner Sanctum | Bevo Post RD18
Sit in on the post game address after the win over Carlton.
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13:36
Luke Beveridge | Post Match (RD18)
Watch Bevo's press conference following our win over Carlton.
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00:56
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan | 'That's the way we play our football'
Marra discusses the round 18 win over Carlton.
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00:23
Team Song: Western Bulldogs | Round 18
Watch the Bulldogs celebrate their Round 18 win over Carlton.
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01:37
AFL RD18 | Marra's fantastic four
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan helps get the Dogs over the line with a pivotal four-goal showing.
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07:09
AFL RD18 | Match Highlights
All the highlights from our 14-point win over Carlton at Marvel Stadium.
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00:46
Jamarra just can’t stop scoring with fine fourth
The Bulldogs continue to inch closer to pulling off a huge win as Jamarra Ugle-Hagan snares goal number four.
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00:30
Bont breaks out his best in swinging stunner
Marcus Bontempelli delivers a cracking effort on the burst to lift his side.
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00:29
Weightman gets lift-off in sizzling early speccy
Cody Weightman wows the crowd in the first term with a stunning mark.
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11:08
Luke Beveridge | 'Lowered our colours as a collective'
Bevo speaks to the media ahead of the round 18 clash with Carlton.
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Bulldogs defenders Rory Lobb and Buku Khamis were outstanding.
Indeed, a Bulldogs player could consider himself hard-done-by if not mentioned in Beveridge's post-game media conference, with the coach keen to praise all of them.
Significantly, for all of Cripps' valour, his Bulldogs counterpart Marcus Bontempelli was solid without proving the difference - as he so often does when the Dogs win.
The Bulldogs were in big trouble early, kicking 0.7 for the first term, but Beveridge said the players stuck to their guns and steadily put the game on their terms.
Midfielder Adam Treloar was a late withdrawal with calf tightness, while Carlton's Zac Williams was forced out of the game in the second term with a hamstring injury.