Star midfielder Lachie Hunter returned with a bang as the Western Bulldogs accounted for Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.

The 25-year-old was involved in everything after being unavailable for the past four weeks, racking up 29 disposals in the 57-point win.

But it was a second-quarter goal, prompting a passionate pull on his red, white and blue jumper that was the most memorable moment.

Senior coach Luke Beveridge slammed trade rumours around Hunter this week as a “made up story” and Hunter backed up those words with action.

“It’s really good to be back out here and get a win, and just to enjoy it with my teammates,” Hunter said post-game.

“This club (means a lot), I absolutely love it here.

“It was a little bit of that, just letting everyone know how much this club means to me.”

The Bulldogs midfield was in scintillating touch against the Crows, led by the likes of Hunter, Marcus Bontempelli and young gun Bailey Smith, who racked up a career-high 37 disposals to go with 813 metres gained.

“It was a really good step forward for Baz,” Hunter said.

“He looked like he used his legs and really ran forward with the ball hard. He’s a real power runner.

“I haven’t seen any of the stats, but I felt like those centre bounces particularly were really good for large portions of the game.”

“It’s getting to that pointy end of the season where you start to do the maths a little bit.

“It was definitely one that we needed.”