A LARGE component of the Western Bulldogs' win over Hawthorn on Saturday afternoon was their effective use of physical pressure and dominance in tackling.

A significant contributor to the level of intensity the side applied was veteran forward Jason Akermanis, who is currently producing his best form since becoming a Bulldog at the end of 2006.

"It is as good as you can give back to the team, because if you don't have the ball, [tackles] are probably the only thing you can do that can help that," Akermanis said after the 32-point win at Aurora Stadium, in which he racked up a game-high seven tackles along with Daniel Giansiracusa.
"I know I missed one really early in the game, but after that it was good.

"I really do pride myself on the tackling, and this year it hasn't been as good early in the season - my offence has been fine.
"To get that right, both sides of it ... that's a positive.

"In footy, you can beat it up and be fancy with all these kinds of tactics, but if you can't get [tackling] right, you're not going to be competitive.  

"That is the most pleasing thing of the day ... the ability and the effort to make the tackles. That third quarter, that's what kept us in the game."

Akermanis said the Bulldogs entered the match with an intention to apply the physical blow-torch to the Hawks, having identified that as the previously-unbeaten side's biggest weapon.

"All our guys, that was our biggest focus this week - if you're going to beat this mob, your pressure needs to be up," he said.
"If you get stronger, you can take the beatings - but you can also hand it out.  

"What you are seeing is a side that has confidence in their bodies (and) confidence in the physicality. You're seeing results because we're winning the hard ball, we're winning the clearances.  

"We're winning the things where last year, we just dropped away too much."

He also said the Bulldogs will keep the win in perspective, considering the Hawks were missing four of their starting 22, but was pleased the side took the chance to return to the winner's list.

"[Hawthorn] is hard down here, (but) they're not at full strength," he said.

"They were okay today and they will be better next time.

"But we're going alright. We've got all our guys up and running, we're not missing many - we needed to take our opportunity today."