SUNDAY'S massive 21-point win over Essendon was a "celebration" for the Western Bulldogs, with coach Luke Beveridge revealing the true reason as to why the club sung the theme song twice in the changerooms after the victory.
Beveridge called all the support staff, players and coaching group back together after the players belted out the 'Sons of the West' theme song to ensure everyone at the club was galvanised.
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"One thing that never happens within our ranks is that we never waver of our support for each other," Beveridge said.
"We've had times where we've lost four (games) in a row or we've been challenged and everyone's just galvanised and tapped into what's important and what we can control.
"It's been no different (this time). I'm just so happy for the support staff and everyone who works at the club, really, that they witness the players giving their absolute all.
"Maybe you shouldn't over-celebrate but it's a really important game for us. Because we've been so down to come out and do what our players did today, it's a celebration for our football club."
WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference
The Bulldogs coach said the club's less than ideal 0-2 start to the season had surprised him and the players somewhat.
"I'm just so pleased for the players. It's been a challenging couple of weeks," Beveridge said.
"On the eve of the season some of their teammates went down with injury so we had to adjust a few things and we were probably caught a little unawares and surprised by the first two rounds, to a degree.
"It's an evolution of the Bulldogs' team, we don't know what kind of outfit we'll be at the end of the year, but we still believe we can really be hard to beat and chalk up the wins along the way."
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During the week, and after an 82-point belting by Greater Western Sydney and a 51-point hammering by West Coast, speculation had swirled that the Bulldogs organisation was full of disharmony and unrest.
"I was aware of it," Beveridge said.
"If you're going to play like we have you've just got to cop it sweet. It's just the way it is, as long as we keep our heads and make sure that we tap into each other's spirit, that's all that really matters.
"Ultimately the next terrific performance is going to come from within, not in spite of what anyone's saying."
Unlike the first two weeks, the Bulldogs were much better organised defensively and designed and executed a plan to expose Essendon's lack of defensive cohesion.
The Bulldogs had 140 uncontested marks to Essendon's 68 and Marcus Bontempelli booted three goals, playing largely as a stay-at-home forward alongside key target Jack Redpath.
Beveridge also praised the efforts of Mitch Honeychurch and Luke Dahlhaus for their role on Bombers star midfielder Zach Merrett, who had just 13 touches.
The Bulldogs will face Sydney at Etihad Stadium next Saturday, looking to get back to 2-2 after the first month of the season.
