THE WESTERN Bulldogs need to learn from their lack of composure in the final stages of Sunday's nerve-racking victory over West Coast, coach Luke Beveridge says.
Despite dominating in all areas, the Bulldogs allowed the Eagles to draw within three points with minutes remaining after leading by 21 points with eight minutes to go.
They played fast, helter-skelter football when the situation demanded cool heads and Beveridge said the players would hopefully heed the warning.
"We sent ourselves into chaos too many times and put pressure on ourselves when we needed to be a little bit more composed so hopefully we learn from that," Beveridge said.
Despite that lapse, Beveridge described the win as "sensational" and said the team took a step in the right direction in taking 15 marks inside forward 50 for the day.
They achieved victory without injured acting captain Easton Wood, who suffered from hamstring tightness during the week and lost Toby McLean to a foot injury early in the game.
It opened the door for stand-in captain Marcus Bontempelli to drive his team to victory with 30 disposals including 21 contested possessions.
"Leading from the front … he was just outstanding," Beveridge said.
The Bulldogs have now used Bontempelli, Dale Morris and Wood as acting captain this season.
Injured skipper Robert Murphy returned to Melbourne on Saturday after a short break in San Diego as he contemplates whether he will play on after suffering an ACL injury in round three.
Beveridge said the Bulldogs just had to keep chipping away and were gradually improving their forward work.
"There are so many players going through there we just need to continue on the path and hope that over time we become a hell of a lot more threatening and we capitalise on most of the opportunities that we create that should be scored," Beveridge said.
WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference
The Bulldogs remain hard to score against and are getting good results from their unheralded big men in Tom Campbell – who was stand-in captain for a NAB Challenge game – and Jordan Roughead.
Beveridge said they were predictable to each other and their midfielders and had only lowered their colours once this season.
With big clashes against Port Adelaide and Geelong ahead of the bye, Beveridge knows each week presents a new challenge.
"Anyone can step up," Beveridge said.
"We need to keep chipping away."
