THE Western Bulldogs might have won Saturday's battle against Greater Western Sydney but midfielder Mitch Wallis has indicated it's just the beginning of the war.

A 45-point win at Etihad Stadium saw the Dogs restore themselves to the winners' list after three losses, and the Giants lose their first game since round five.

It was also the first time Ryan Griffen and Tom Boyd lined up against their former teams after last off-season's explosive trade that saw the former walk out of the Kennel in search of a fresh start and the latter return home to Victoria. 

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Wallis, who was one of the Dogs' best after briefly lining up on Griffen in the first quarter and laying a tackle on his ex-teammate in the game's opening minutes, said the emphatic win didn't necessarily provide closure after what happened.

Instead, he predicted it as the start of a fierce rivalry between the emerging teams.

"I don't think it will ever be over. We've got a young list like they do and we'll have many more battles in the future," Wallis said after the game.

"But today was one to us … so it was good."

Coach Luke Beveridge said the Dogs tried to keep the Griffen factor out of the game and wanted his players to focus more on discipline and concentration.

He was pleased with how they handled it, especially given it was hard to ignore their supporters' emphatic booing of the former club captain and Callan Ward whenever they went near the ball.

Wallis said the win meant a lot to the players after what they went through at the end of last season.

"We were disappointed with how things panned out but we attacked it like any other team," he said.

"We knew it was going to be a bit more fierce than normal but it was always good to tackle him … and it was great to win at the end of the day.

"It's been a battle for the last three or four years against them and to get a win today was monumental."

Wallis made a statement with his 36-disposal game, a week after the Dogs' midfield was beaten soundly by the Demons.

A nervous Griffen was sent to full forward for a spell after minimal impact in the first quarter and touched the ball just 10 times for the game. 

Five talking points: Bulldogs v Giants

Veteran midfielder Matthew Boyd, who played with Griffen for 10 seasons, said the Giants' personnel didn't affect the way they approached the game.

"There's not much time in the game for emotion," Boyd told AFL.com.au.

"It moves really quickly and you've got to just focus on the task at hand.

"If you get lost in emotion, then it takes your focus away from what you're trying to do.

"We really talked about just staying disciplined and focused on what we had to do and not worry too much about who they had playing for them.

"A couple of their players used to be our players so there's a little bit of history there, but we were just really focused on what we wanted to do."

Former Giant Tom Boyd played his best game for the Bulldogs on Saturday. Picture: AFL Media