1. Suckling revives knee fears
They say things come in threes, and the Dogs' jinxed run with injury appears to have continued with Matt Suckling hurting his right knee. Late in the first term, the ex-Hawk courageously contested an aerial ball and landed awkwardly, wrenching the same knee that was reconstructed at Hawthorn, and which cost him a place in the 2013 premiership team. The 27-year-old was helped from the field and went straight up the race for treatment. It was feared the Dogs had lost their third defensive playmaker to serious injury in as many weeks, following the loss of skipper Bob Murphy (ACL) and Jason Johannisen (hamstring tendon). So the relief was palpable early in the second term when, for the second week running after having an ankle problem last week, Suckling re-emerged with heavy strapping and was soon launching a typically raking kickout. All appeared well again, but he failed to return after halftime. Meanwhile, the Lions were two short early with Tom Cutler suffering a suspected dislocated elbow and Allen Christensen copping a head knock which ended his night.

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2. Lost Dogs eventually find direction
In the build-up to this game, Lions coach Justin Leppitsch lamented his team's inaccuracy and stressed the importance of nailing early shots, but early on it was the Bulldogs who blazed while the Lions were efficient. After missing a series of gettable shots and suffering a Tom Campbell dropped mark at point-blank range, the Bulldogs were 0.6 to the Lions' 2.0, prompting several groans from the red, white and blue faithful. They finally broke through after 24 minutes when Luke Dahlhaus flew high for a marking attempt and bounced up quickly to soccer truly. Including that moment, the Dogs were a team transformed, adding 12.2 to 2.4 to lead by 52 points early in the third term. Among the goalkickers was Jake Stringer, who was last week held scoreless for the first time in 12 months, and whose second major was an explosive effort that upended three Lions.


Jed Adcock plays his old club for the first time in Dogs colours. Picture: AFL Media


3. Adcock's answer
This would have been sweet for ex-Lions captain Jed Adcock, who enjoyed a big first-up win over his former club, which delisted him last year after 206 games. The 30-year-old was a handy, workmanlike contributor and would have relished several passages of play, particularly when he stormed through the centre in the third term and kicked long towards Stringer, who was awarded a free kick and nailed his third goal. Adcock didn't go unnoticed among his ex-teammates, with Ryan Lester taking him high early, resulting in a free kick. With Murphy, Johannisen and possibly Suckling now sidelined, Adcock could establish himself in a team that contends for a flag. A fair trade-up for a player who was on the scrapheap until thrown a lifeline in last year's rookie draft.

4. Manful Martin and Rockliff's return
Considering the sensitivity around the concussion issue, it was hard to believe Lions ruckman Stefan Martin took his place just seven days after being poleaxed by Gold Coast's Steven May. Martin showed he was truly a Lion-hearted competitor. Not only did he battle strongly in ruck duels, but he also won plenty of the ball, and even gave off a goal to youngster Josh Schache in the third term. Unfortunately for Martin, teammate Christensen ran into him and was off for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Lions skipper Rockliff was back for his first game since round two, kicked a goal early and was prominent at times without being at his brilliant best.

5. Wood returns … as captain
A lot had happened since then vice-captain Easton Wood hurt his hamstring in the round two win over St Kilda – the Dogs had suffered injuries to fellow backmen, including skipper Murphy, so Wood's return against the Lions was important on multiple fronts. The 26-year-old acting captain didn't quite reach his All Australian form of last year but still performed his role as leader of a defence that was again difficult to penetrate. Tory Dickson also returned to the Dogs line-up for his first game of the season after overcoming a quad injury and was as busy as ever, his first goal in the third term prompting teammates to mob him. He added a second major in the dying stages.