![\"Marcus](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/a5d3adedddcb419e602c2b4059beaa3c.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nA melodic Luke Beveridge has burst into song after the Western Bulldogs exorcised some 2025 demons with an emphatic opening-round Gabba statement.<\/p>\n
The visitors came from 26 points behind late in the third term to knock off two-time defending AFL premiers Brisbane in a five-point Saturday thriller.<\/p>\n
A five-goal Lions burst after halftime appeared to have the home side on track but the Bulldogs found another gear, kicking seven last-quarter goals to win 16.15 (111) to 15.16 (106).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marcus Bontempelli was superb as always for the Dogs, with three goals and 19 disposals. (Darren England\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n
Ed Richards starred with two goals, 30 touches and 16 scoring assists, while a vintage Charlie Cameron (four goals, five tackles) performance almost lifted Brisbane home.<\/p>\n
The Lions lost All-Australian midfielder and new co-captain Hugh McCluggage in the first term to a calf injury.<\/p>\n
Harris Andrews will also come under scrutiny following contact with Arthur Jones that forced the Bulldog out of the game with concussion in the third term.<\/p>\n
Beaten by 10 points at the Gabba last year, Beveridge feared he was watching a re-run before they responded with two late third-quarter goals to offer hope.<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs’ rooms were buzzing post-game, Beveridge “letting his guard down” when he started singing a club anthem he co-wrote during a live television interview.<\/p>\n
He then gave the song, titled Tooth ‘n’ Nail, a plug in the post-game press conference.<\/p>\n
“Bit silly … it just keeps playing over and over in my head,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s only round zero but … you have a bit of fun.<\/p>\n
“The mood’s great. When you play last year’s premiers and \u2026 it seemed like history was repeating itself.<\/p>\n
“We had these games through the course of last year, been in the game and then been tested and lost.”<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs were the best-performing team not to make finals in AFL history last season, never losing by more than four goals but beating a top-eight side just once.<\/p>\n
“It’s important to us,” he said of their early scalp.<\/p>\n
“We’ve got a level of confidence that we weren’t too far away from those better teams last year.<\/p>\n
“Then tonight was evidence we’re bridging the gap a bit.”<\/p>\n
![\"Lions](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/7bbd8b7ea51d10e25dba5e3b0ee91f9a.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Kai Lohmann celebrates a goal for the Lions at The Gabba. (Darren England\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n
Marcus Bontempelli’s second goal put the Bulldogs in front early in the second half but the Lions responded with five-straight majors, Kai Lohmann and Oscar Allen nabbing two each as Brisbane led 26.<\/p>\n
But the Bulldogs replied with five of their own to edge back ahead, with Bailey Williams selling candy to at least three defenders for a brilliant goal before the final break.<\/p>\n
The lead fluctuated in the final 15 minutes, with Sam Darcy (two goals) influential and Bontempelli (three goals) threaded the needle with a set shot.<\/p>\n
Lohmann squeezed a behind with 44 seconds on the clock to make it a five-point game.<\/p>\n
Dayne Zorko’s cries for a 50-metre penalty for Joel Freijah stepping off the mark went unheard as the Lions surged forward a final time.<\/p>\n
![\"Lobb.\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/e59933b1f1fa625d3407efe77af55db1.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
With a nod to his three clubs in his 200th game, Rory Lobb played a key role for the Dogs. (Darren England\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n
Lachie Neale had a game-high 39 touches and nine clearances while Matthew Kennedy had 30 touches for the Bulldogs and Rory Lobb had a handful of smart defensive plays in his 200th game.<\/p>\n
Lions coach Chris Fagan said there were no “alarm bells” but lamented their lapses late in the third term.<\/p>\n
“Those two (goals) … gave them hope,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We’d played a great quarter then let a couple through in red time and got their tails up, sniffed an opportunity they were able to take.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A melodic Luke Beveridge has burst into song after the Western Bulldogs exorcised some 2025 demons with an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,261239,4127,663,14016,85,36191,698],"class_list":["post-524934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-kai-lohmann","tag-lions","tag-luke-beveridge","tag-marcus-bontempelli","tag-sports","tag-tooth-and-nail","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}