THE Bulldogs made it a successful return to the Gabba forformer Lion Jason Akermanis with a courageous 23-point win on Saturday night.

In front of a hostile Brisbane crowd of 29,873, Akermanis silencedthe fans with two first-quarter goals and a polished display as the Dogs ranout 13.17 (95) to 10.12 (72) winners.

But the victory may have come at a cost, with knee injuriesto Ryan Griffen and Daniel Cross looking serious.

Cross has medial ligament damage while Griffen wasstretchered off in the second term after his knee buckled under in a Jed Adcocktackle.

Despite its bench being decimated, the Dogs had winners allover the ground to end a two game losing streak.

They extended their lead at each of the first three quartersbefore Brisbane reduced the final winning margin by kicking three unansweredgoals in the final term as the Dogs tired.

Captain Brad Johnson was a star up forward, botting fourgoals for the match, all in the first half, while at the other end of theground Brian Harris blanketed Lions spearhead Jonathan Brown.

Brown had just two goals for the night, with Harris winningmore than his share of one-on-one contest.

Through the middle the Dogs' run was relentless, with ballmagnet Scott West racking up the possessions, as did Adam Cooney and half backgeneral Lindsay Gilbee.

But it was Aker's night, as the former Brownlow medallistput a big week of media hype behind him by running away with four premiershippoints and saluting the Brisbane crowd with his customary victory handstandafter the final siren.

His first-quarter goals broke the shackles and allowed theDogs to kick free.

They got off to a brilliant start, leading by 29 points atquarter time after reeling off six unanswered goals to round out the term.

Tim Notting’s long bomb and a set shot from lively JarredBrennan inside three minutes gave the home fans reason for optimism as theLions booted the first two of the match, but the running Bulldogs quicklysilenced them.

It was to be the last goal of the half for Brisbane as theDogs completely out ran and outpointed their rivals.

Johnson booted three and Akermanis two as they bounced outto a 6.8.44 to 2.3.15 advantage.

Johnson got the scoreboard ticking after getting on the endof a speared pass by Lindsay Gilbee, and Cooney gave the Dogs the lead when hesoccered truly from 20m out midway through the term.

Gilbee and Johnson proved a perfect combination for a secondtime in the quarter when the former drilled a pass from 55m for the Dogs'skipper to mark and goal again.

Then Akermanis stepped in for a minute of genius.

First he goaled from a tight angle after winning a free kickfrom Robert Copeland.

Shutting the boos out, he threaded the needle from theboundary line and was mobbed by at least 10 teammates.

Then just 60 seconds later he made it two goals aftermarking and goaling from 45m.

The second quarter was a contrast for the Dogs – while theyextended their lead to 36 points with the skipper kicking his fourth, theinterchange bench looked more like a casualty ward.

Injuries to Griffen and Cross were added to when NathanEagleton had a nasty head clash forcing him off with the blood rule, an ankleproblem forced Rob Murphy off for a period, and Farren Ray also went off with the blood rule.

But the run of West and Cooney helped put the Dogs 7.12.54to 2.6.18 up.

A patched up Eagleton was the inspiration for the Dogs inthe third quarter, as the experienced left footer slammed home two goals on therun as the Dogs extended the lead to 43 points.

The Lions made a mini surge, reducing the deficit to36 points with three straight goals, but Ray’s steadier on the run from 45mrestored the comfortable lead at the final change.

WESTERN BULLDOGS   6.8   7.12 13.15  13.17 (95)

BRISBANE LIONS     2.3   2.6    7.8   10.12(72)

GOALS -Western Bulldogs: B Johnson 4, JAkermanis 2, N Eagleton 2, A Cooney, M Boyd, M Hahn, S Higgins, F Ray. Brisbane: JBrennan 3, T Notting 3, J Brown 2, N Lappin, M Allan.

BEST - Western Bulldogs: B Johnson, L Gilbee, BHarris, N Eagleton, J Akermanis. Brisbane: J Charman, T Notting, N Lappin, JBrennan.

Umpires: M Stevic, R Chamberlain, SWenn.

Official crowd: 29,873 at theGabba.