THE WESTERN Bulldogs have turned a negative into a positive, with coach Luke Beveridge believing his team can gain an advantage out of the heavy opposition attention Jason Johannisen is receiving.

Johannisen was tagged for the third week running on Saturday night, with North Melbourne forwards Taylor Garner and Nathan Hrovat working over the Norm Smith medallist from the opening bounce.

The important defender finished the match with 19 possessions and four rebound 50s, lifting in the second half and improving on his output after being shut out against Sydney (nine and one) and Melbourne (15 and three).

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"I think the important thing is, as coaches we don't panic, we don't need Jason to get 30 possessions for us to win the game," Beveridge said after the Bulldogs' one-point win at Etihad Stadium.   

"They were trying to go to him and we weren't getting what we wanted high, so we'll just take Shane Biggs, or Matty Suckling, or Easton Wood up high and we'll get the same result.

"We sent Jason to Nathan Hrovat, who looked lively, and Jason shut him out and gave us rebound from deeper.

"He can play deep, which is dangerous because he can run transition, or he can play up high, or we can send him to a wing, (so) if teams want to play the merry-go-round and keep going to him, well we're happy to get an advantage from it."

A relieved Beveridge praised his team's even performance, with the spread of 11 goalkickers crucial in their second win in six games.

After a quiet fortnight that has produced just one goal and a testing week off-field, forward Jake Stringer returned to form and played a key team role with 18 possessions and a goal. 

Five talking points: Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne

"I liked Jake's game. I think that (selfless) is a good word for his game," Beveridge said.

"He tried to bring his teammates into it and he plays on some pretty big defenders at times who like to hold on.

"We need that spread of goalkickers to win our games, I think you've seen that historically, and we continue to need that. We got a reasonable spread tonight."

Stringer was involved in a key moment of the game when he caught an unsuspecting Shaun Higgins holding the ball as he lined up for goal, after the North Melbourne forward had let his 30 seconds expire on the verge of three-quarter time.

"That's a great sign. He was really concentrating and playing the game out right to the last second," Beveridge said.

"We talked about that at three-quarter time actually, how that's going to be really important in the last quarter, that moment by moment we're all concentrating and we've got the right levels in our mind.

WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full media conference

"That was a great example. That would have been a telling goal if it was kicked, so it's an example of how Jake came really prepared to play second by second."

Beveridge also singled out inclusions Jack Redpath (two goals) and Tom Campbell (49 hit-outs) for their key roles in the win, with lower profile Bulldogs Mitch Honeychurch, Toby McLean and Bailey Dale pleasing the coach.

"We had a really even spread of performance and contributions from all, so it was fantastic to see some boys who haven't played a lot of senior football in recent times (perform)," the coach said.  

"North Melbourne were pretty good tonight, so to beat them on a night when they were full of beans is a really good result for us.

"There's a lot of positives and we've played a lot of close games. So as a coach you can't kick a gift horse in the mouth. We'll take the win."