Much was said about the Bulldogs’ pressure in the aftermath of their opening round victory over the Eagles, and it was their defensive ethic and hard-edged approach that helped them to their second victory in as many weeks against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

In a game where the Western Bulldogs trailed the both the uncontested and contested possessions count, inside 50s and clearances, it was the pressure applied by the Bulldogs that proved decisive.

The stand-out statistic for the day was the tackle count, the Dogs laying 73 to the Tigers’ 51 , helping the visitors on their way to a perfect record from the first two rounds.

Last weekend against the Eagles, the young Dogs laid 18 more tackles than their opponent on their way to a league leading 94.

Bulldogs ruckman Will Minson said that four quarter pressure was a big focus for his side coming into the clash against last year’s finallists.

“We were certainly aware that they (Richmond) played a low tackle game last week so we knew that if we put in a lot of tackles it would be something different for them.”

Minson, on his 30th birthday, contributed five of his own but it was teammates Marcus Bontempelli with 10 tackles and Luke Dahlhaus with eight, that led the way for the Dogs.

Both sides squandered opportunities, with a total of 46 scoring shots for the day and only 21 goals converted.

“I think we were a bit tired out there, we’ll get some more match fitness as a result, that probably affected some of our ball use,” said Minson after the match.

“We probably could have put them away much sooner.” 

Although the stats would show the Tigers had more chances in their forward half, Minson said it was his side’s ability to deny the Tigers prime field position that helped keep their rivals to a low score.

“I think we created more opportunities. They had their shots from long and wide, there weren’t many options on, so that was pretty good defence to get them out that way.”

The Bulldogs now head to Launceston next Sunday to take on reigning premiers Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium.