By the time the Western Bulldogs met Richmond at Etihad Stadium in their Round 7 match in 2017, they had already developed a reputation in the season for pulling games out of the fire.
In three of their four wins to date, the Dogs had overcome deficits of 24 points against Sydney, 29 points against North Melbourne and 38 points against Brisbane.
If Doggies fans arriving at Docklands for the game against the Tigers were hoping to have their hearts given a breather for a change, they were to be disappointed!
The 46,387 who turned up on Saturday night three years ago today would witness the Dogs take their supporters on yet another roller coaster ride.
The Bulldogs went into the match with a 4-2 record, a game behind the AFL's new 'glamour' team Richmond.
The Tigers had won their first five matches before coming unstuck against Adelaide in Round 6, and most pundits thought they would bounce back strongly against the Dogs.
Those pundits were right. Richmond was all over the Bulldogs in the first quarter, kicking five goals to just one to take a 26-point lead into the quarter-time break. And when Jack Riewoldt marked and goaled for the Tigers early in the second term, the Dogs were 32 points adrift.
For Luke Beveridge and his team in the coaches box, the sound of metaphorical alarm bells going off was becoming all too familiar. On the positive side, though, was the fact that Bevo, his assistants and his players were becoming very adept at responding to such situations.
Beveridge by that stage had become renowned for making what he terms 'adjustments' to turn a game around. Against the Tigers, he and his team were about to do it again.
The Bulldogs first managed to block the Tigers' avenues to goal and then set about putting their own scores on the board. A goal to Liam Picken was followed by one each to Marcus Adams (who had been moved forward) and Clay Smith.
The Dogs had closed the gap to a manageable 13 points, but a goal just before half time to Dustin Martin took Richmond's buffer back out to three goals at the long break.
An early third-term goal to Sean Grigg extended the Tigers' lead to 23 points, and another come-from-behind win for the Dogs was beginning to look increasingly unlikely.
Once again, though, the Bulldogs dug deep. Smith's second goal was backed up by another from Marcus Bontempelli and the margin was down to 11 points. Josh Caddy pulled one back for the Tigers, but the Dogs kept coming.
Goals in 'red time' to Toby McLean and Adams cut the margin to just two points at the final change, the Bulldogs with all the momentum.
That momentum was paused when Richmond kicked the first goal of the final quarter, just as they had done in the first three. Midway through the term the Dogs had not found the big sticks and were still seven points in arrears.
Enter Clay Smith once more. The bustling Bulldog kicked two goals in two minutes to give his side the lead for the first time in the match.
Another major to Lachie Hunter extended the lead to 11 points, and it looked as though the Bulldogs had pulled off another Harry Houdini-style great escape. But Doggies fans' hearts were to be tested again when Jack Riewoldt goaled at the 23-minute mark to cut the margin to under a goal.
What followed were six incredibly tense minutes, in which both sides tried to find the winning goal. But Riewoldt's major turned out to be the last of the match, and when the siren sounded, the Western Bulldogs had once again managed to pull a win out of the fire.
Along with Clay Smith's four goals, Bontempelli's 27 touches and third-term goal were crucial, while Luke Dahlhaus, Hunter and Jack Macrae all played pivotal roles in the win.
Another week, another victory snatched from the jaws of defeat. These heart-stopping wins weren't coming about by design, but Bulldogs' fans were certainly getting their money's worth!
