Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney reckons he's got the buy-in he wanted from his AFL players to his coaching game-plan.
And he feels the players will invest even more in it after their effort and steady improvement finally reaped a tangible reward - an impressive 22-point AFL win over West Coast at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The 16.15 (111) to 13.11 (89) victory is just the Bulldogs' fifth of a development season, and shows just how far the team has come in 2013.
The Eagles smashed the Bulldogs by 70 points in round six - albeit in Perth and albeit with far less injuries than they carry currently.
But after a deserved win following honourable losses to Essendon and Hawthorn in successive weeks, McCartney feels like the Bulldogs are genuinely getting better, and is confident they will keep doing so.
"We've probably been building for a few weeks - we haven't got enough reward for the hard work we've been putting in," he said.
"If you put yourself in the players' shoes ... you get a coaching program put in front of you and as a rule, nearly every player buys into that.
"The key is to get some results. Then they buy in even more."
With veteran Robert Murphy outstanding and onballer Luke Dahlhaus booting four goals and having 29 touches, the Bulldogs even overcame some late heart tremors as the Eagles rolled back a 33-point lead early in the final term to 14.
But they steadied with a late Dylan Addison goal to breathe easier and eventually win, leaving West Coast with a 7-10 win-loss record.
The Dogs arm-wrestled the Eagles in the opening half, but led by a point at halftime with four of the last five goals.
Two were superb soccered efforts from Dahlhaus, with much-maligned Jarrad Grant having a major hand in two goals during the term.
Grant and Tory Dickson finished with three goals each.
West Coast forward Josh Hill booted three goals against his old club, Josh Kennedy also booted three, while midfielder Andrew Gaff had 31 possessions.
The Eagles' bad day was compounded with midfielder Chris Masten injuring his ankle in the second quarter, and substituted out of the match at halftime.
West Coast coach John Worsfold said Masten had sprained his ankle - adding to a lengthy injury toll at the Eagles.
"We let them score too easily," Worsfold said.
"The guys played with pretty good intensity. They just weren't skilful enough really to beat the Bulldogs."
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