A 10 goal to two final term by the Bulldogs set up a grandstand finish at Cazalys Stadium and the Club’s fourth consecutive win on Saturday, but it was a grinding third quarter that set the wheels in motion for the final quarter onslaught that ensued.

After the Suns piled on the first three goals of the second half to stretch to a game high 37-points lead, the Dogs were on the ropes.

While the response wasn’t immediately reflected on the scoreboard, the stats sheet told a story that the tide started to turn from the 10-minute mark of the third term.

Led by Liam Picken, Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae the Dogs’ midfield unit wrestled back the ascendancy, both inside and away from the contest.

Despite kicking one goal, six behinds for the third quarter the Dogs were creating opportunities they hadn’t seen in the opening half of play.

Dominating possession, the Dogs had nearly double the disposals of the Suns in the third term (123-66), 16 more contested possessions (46-30) and seven more inside 50s (17-10) kicking against the breeze.

Midfielder Jack Macrae said the message from the coaching group at the final change was simple, “stick to what you know, and just keep grinding away.”

“We saw some of the young players that stood up when we really needed it, and the game was on the line,” said Macrae.

The 20-year-old himself finished with 33 disposals for the game, 19 in the second half.

With humid conditions making the ball greasy, and a steady breeze favouring the on the one end of the stadium all night, Macrae said keeping things simple was key.

“I think we were a bit slow to adjust to the conditions, but in the second half when we got on top, we played it more like a wet weather footy game and tried to surge rather than being too cute with it.

“If we finished off the opportunities (in the third quarter), it could have been a lot better performance.”

Despite the wave of momentum snowballing behind the Bulldogs as the second half wore on, Macrae said there was no time for complacency as the young-side chased their second win in as many years in Cairns.

“It was really grinding performance, I was pretty nervous at three quarter time, but it was great to run out the game and finish on top.

“At no point (were we comfortable), probably only when the runner came out and said we had 50 seconds left and we were three goals up (that we knew the win was ours).

“It was a pretty tense game.”