There's something brewing on the other side of the Westgate.
It's one of those intangible, wish-you-could-bottle-it commodities that all great sides and all bona fide contenders tend to have in spades.
It's belief.
Luke Beveridge, for all of the qualms and criticisms levelled his way after years of failing to maximise what is one of the league's most well-rounded playing lists, has been presented with a set of circumstances uniquely suited to his strengths, as a motivator of men.
The Bulldogs started the season in peerless form, peeling off four straight wins (including a first-up warning to the competition, in defeating the back-to-back premiers in Brisbane), and averaging over 109 points across that span.
Then the wheels fell off.
Four straight losses had the high-octane Doggies back with the pack. Their lack of defensive depth was exploited for a month, albeit, at the hands of those currently occupying the first four rungs of the AFL ladder.
The month from hell was characterised by big key forwards taking turns kicking bags against the Dogs.
Lewis and Gunston combined for six at Gather Round.
A week later, Jeremy Cameron dined out, booting 10 at the Cattery.
Then King Charles took his star turn. Dual Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow booted seven under the roof at Marvel.
Fremantle bigs Josh Treacy and Luke Jackson racked up four contested marks and just as many goals between them to steer the Dockers home, rounding out four weeks of pain.
These show-stealing performances were only compounded by the brutal scourge of injuries facing Beveridge's key stocks.
Sam Darcy won't be back this year, after his non-contact ACL rupture sucked the air out of footy fans everywhere. Aaron Naughton suffered a sickening fall just a fortnight later, but remarkably took the field against Fremantle.
These injuries occurred in front of a backdrop already punctuated by the lack of continuity experienced by ruckman Tim English, hamstring injuries to key defensive pair Rory Lobb and James O'Donnell, and the concussions (et al.) experienced by Arty Jones and Tom Liberatore.
Bailey Williams and Laitham Vandermeer are also battling medium term hamstring injuries, and in the latter's case, it's not the first time this season.
Brilliant front-half spark Cody Weightman hasn't been sighted since the Dogs lost the Elimination Final to Hawthorn, in 2024!
And yet, somehow, the Dogs' season is alive.
With their backs against the wall, they've won two of the last three, with the only blemish in that span a two-goal loss at the hands of a Carlton side buoyed by 'new-coach bounce'.
As always, the league's best player, and arguably its best captain, Marcus Bontempelli, is shouldering the burden of brilliance. His midfield deputy and co vice-captain Ed Richards, like "The Bont", has turned in scintillating performances when needed the most. Both men have spurred their team to victory while hobbled by different ailments.
If the Dogs were better placed, conventional wisdom suggests they may have been managed out of certain contests - but such a luxury has not been afforded Luke Beveridge at the selection table.
The Team of the Mighty West are the right side of .500, sitting at 6-5 despite their player unavailability crisis, and a fixture that has been, and will continue to be, extraordinarily tough.
They play a thereabout Adelaide side and top four sides Hawthorn and Sydney twice each before they take the field against either of Richmond or West Coast a first time. Reverse fixtures against strong sides Melbourne and Fremantle (in Perth) also populate their run home.
The next five weeks will reveal all.
A battered Collingwood await on Saturday night, at Marvel, in a game the Doggies should win. Whispers abound that Cody Weightman will make a long-awaited return to football, providing both an emotional lift and another avenue to goal for his side. Tim English was line-ball to play against the Demons on Sunday, and ultimately didn't, meaning he'll likely come in for the Collingwood clash.
Against the Demons, James O'Donnell played his first match since the Geelong loss in mid-April, while the versatile Lobb now boasts two games under his belt after his injury in that same fixture.
After the Pies game, it's three more local rendezvous with Hawthorn, the Crows and the building-nicely Saints, before a telling trip to Sydney, where the Swans await.
If the Bulldogs can wade through that period, and pinch three wins from those five games, they're set up beautifully for a tilt at meaningful finals action. They'd be 9-7, and only leaving Melbourne twice in their last seven matches, for a clash with the Gold Coast Suns, and the aforementioned trip to Fremantle.
The Dogs would be favoured in five of their final seven, and finish, all going to plan, 14-9.
As the plans for the 10-year reunion of 2016's memorable triumph are being drawn up, the Bulldogs would be every chance of another fairytale run through September, even without Sam Darcy, or a key back that engenders much confidence in one-on-one situations.
It would be quite the story, and it's all laid out in front of a side who traditionally, are up for the fight.
