After overcoming the "shell shock" of a winless first two rounds, Western Bulldogs defender Liam Jones says Luke Beveridge's men now have a platform from which to build into the AFL season.
The Bulldogs were blown away in early thumpings from Melbourne and St Kilda, which came off the back of last year's horror finals exit.
The performances led to fierce external criticism, particularly on Beveridge, who was handed a two-year contract extension in December.
But the gritty round-three win over Brisbane has halted the slide ahead of a meeting with Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.
"It's a good place for us to start - to win a really hard and tough game," Jones told AAP.
"Our pressure was up and if we can have that as our foundation, then our flair will come off the back of that.
"It was a good reward for effort because we had a really good pre-season and the first two rounds were a bit of shell shock because we had a zero in the win column.
"That's a good stepping stone for us now and that's the baseline performance that we can really build our season on."
Jones said Beveridge, the Dogs' 2016 premiership mentor, had kept a cool head during a tough start to his ninth season at the helm.
"He's a very level sort of character and in the losses he doesn't get too low," Jones said.
"He hasn't lost belief in us and that's been great for us to (maintain) belief in ourselves.
"We stayed the course. Obviously we weren't playing the way we wanted so there were a few things he reiterated that we need to work on and we brought that (against Brisbane).
"The heat on the ball, the pressure around the ball and a bit of desperation - if we can build off that, I think we're a really talented team, and the rest of our game will flow from there."
Jones has returned to bolster the Bulldogs' back-line this season, making his AFL comeback after retiring at the end of 2021 because of the league's COVID-19 vaccination policy.
The 32-year-old was rushed to hospital for assessment after a "scary" neck injury in round one but was cleared of structural damage and has not missed a game.
Now, he's focused on settling into the Dogs' defensive unit alongside fellow tall Alex Keath and remodelled back-man Josh Bruce while Ryan Gardner (elbow) is out injured.
"I've been trying to fast-track my learning with (assistant coach) Rohan Smith and all the players down there and building chemistry," Jones said.
"It's a new mixture down there but I thought we did pretty well (against Brisbane) and had a pretty good summer.
"We'll continue to learn and we'll be really good."
