Coach Luke Beveridge has sung the praises of his players after the Bulldogs turned a second-quarter 49-point deficit into a 21-point victory over the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium on Thursday night.

Speaking after the match, Beveridge said alterations to the team structure were required after the Suns burst out of the blocks to race to a big lead, and the changes made - which ultimately brought the Bulldogs back into the match - were player driven. 

"[Gold Coast] definitely got outside and put our defence under pressure so we needed to fix a few things up and our players made some great adjustments and we were pretty happy with that in the end.

“We're pretty proud of the way they fought back and came over the top."

Beveridge said that, after a poor first half, it was important for the players to finish strongly in its last JLT Community Series match as the team prepares for its round one encounter against Collingwood in two weeks.

"It's really important. We came here this afternoon wanting to get some momentum and take it into the next couple of weeks in the lead up to round one and to see the way the early part of the game unfolded, it couldn't have been any worse, really. 

"But we recalibrated, we checked ourselves, we stayed positive obviously, and to have that difference in the scoreline at quarter time, it was really significant for us to take that [strong finish] into our training over the next couple of weeks and put it in the memory banks as to what we can do."

When it was suggested that the coaching group was able to draw on the experiences of last year to remain calm when the game was slipping away from the Bulldogs, Beveridge agreed. 

"The players have a fair degree of belief in what they can achieve together. That helps when you're under some kind of duress and I think collectively all the coaches and support staff have that belief in our players and what they can do as well."

The Bulldogs' Toyota AFL Premiership Season campaign gets underway on Friday March 24 when they meet Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground under lights.