It was hard not to be impressed with Marcus Bontempelli’s game on Saturday night.

The young midfelder was physically challenged from the opening bounce by North Melbourne’s enforcers, but not only did he stand his ground, he went on to play a pivotal role, yet again, in a Bulldogs win.

The numbers were there: 19 disposals, eight marks and nine tackles, and the Brownlow votes could be too, but speaking with Channel 7 on the ground after the match, all he wanted to talk about was his younger teammates.

Without injured prime-movers like Tom Liberatore, Jack Macrae and Mitch Wallis, the Dogs called on some younger players to step in and fill the void, and in Lukas Webb, and Nathan Hrovat, that’s exactly what they got.

“A lot has been spoken about our injuries but we’ve got so much depth and faith in these boys out here tonight and they delivered on it, Bontempelli said.

“We knew coming in with a bit of a younger group again, it was great to see the younger kids step up.

And step up they did.  Nathan Hrovat registered 14 touches, five marks and a goal in his first senior game of the season, while Lukas Webb put up 15 disposals and five clearances.

Throw in another solid Josh Dunkley performance, and you can’t help but admire the depth down at Whitten Oval.

“They earn their spot," Bontempelli said, "and they go back to the VFL and the play really well in the twos."

“We rate their hardness because we physically want to try and put teams to the sword and I think we did that tonight, so we were pretty happy we won.”

As for his own game, Bontempelli wasn’t concerned with North Melbourne’s physical tactics, ‘it’s a game of football so you expect that some days,’ he said. 

The Bulldogs face Collingwood next Friday night at Etihad Stadium.