MELBOURNE clinched a seven-point win but it was the Western Bulldogs who could claim to have reaped the most from a Jekyll and Hyde NAB Challenge clash in Ballarat on Saturday.
The Demons dominated the opening half, but a combination of Paul Roos' men taking their foot off the pedal, and the Bulldogs lifting, produced a thrilling encounter.
From 45 points down at the main break the young and inexperienced Dogs – who had only booted one goal – surged to almost steal an upset win against a near full-strength Demons outfit.
"We learnt a couple of things today about ourselves and adjustments we may need to make from time to time," Beveridge said.
"We had to make some. They dominated on the scoreboard and in possession, there's no doubt about that.
"So we needed to change a couple of things, which credit to the boys they did really, really well."
The Dogs' young midfield sparked the turnaround, with Mitch Honeychurch, Marcus Bontempelli combining with veteran Matthew Boyd and ruckman Will Minson to drag their side back into it.
After pushing Fremantle nine days ago the Dees' confidence was sky-high at half-time and their flair in attack and polish by foot would have heartened supporters.
The positives from the contest included rejuvenated Jeff Garlett (two goals) and livewire Jay Kennedy-Harris (two) up forward in a new-look structure.
Chris Dawes and Jesse Hogan (one goal each) offered strong marking targets, while Watts ripped off the substitutes' vest and wasted no time getting involved after half-time in his first game for the year.
"(Sam) Frost we think adds a lot of speed down there, he's probably a more natural defender.
"Obviously Jeff (Garlett), we know what a quality player he is. We think if we can get the ball with a little bit more speed as we did in the first half, we've got some dangerous players.
"Jay Kennedy-Harris had a really good first half as well."
The Dogs – who had seven recruits playing their first games – too often rushed forward haphazardly once they won possession and turned the ball over entering their attacking 50m.
It played into the hands of Melbourne half-backs Christian Salem and Heritier Lumumba, who complemented each other beautifully launching attacks from backward of centre.
Turnovers killed Beveridge's side – who were hosting their first game at their second home in Ballarat – early on.
Kicking with a two-to-three goal breeze in the first term the Dogs were dominated in possession (128-42), while the Dees' patient build-up saw them take 58 uncontested marks to four and also won the inside 50 count 10-7.
The floodgates were open and the sole highlight for the home team was Ayce Cordy's snap from nothing to spare the embarrassment of a goalless first half as they went to the rooms trailing by 45 points.
Only mature-age rookie recruit Aaron vandenBerg's head clash soured the first half for Melbourne, with the 188cm Demon having to be helped from the field with blood pouring from a wound.
Astonishingly the young Dogs turned it around after the main break, booting seven goals to one to nearly snatch a nail-biting win.