For Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge, there was simply a sense of relief when the ball stuck in Michael Sellwood's hands late in the Round 12 victory over Collingwood. It proved to be a match-saving mark from the 13 gamer, even if that wasn't the strategy that would have been coached.

"You're hoping for a big fist, to be honest, get the ball out of there, get it out of that danger zone, definitely out of range of the next kick being a scoring kick. But you're pretty happy and content with him coming down with the ball in his hands," Beveridge said.

More important was how the backline – largely undersized with Rory Lobb playing in the ruck – stood up to the late challenges from Collingwood.

In Tim English's return game, the coaching panel opted to manage his minutes, with Lobb reprising his shared ruck duties to allow English more time on the bench.

It was a strategy that not only allowed the Dogs to maintain some control in the middle for the better part of three quarters, but also press forward and stretch an undersized Collingwood defence.

"(The ruck), it's obviously a taxing role, it's niche, and yeah, (English) was only playing probably 18 minutes a quarter in the first half, and then we asked a bit more of him as the game went on," Beveridge said.

"We really like what 'Lobby' did there last week, he was against Max Gawn, we thought he did his best, he held his end up, and tonight (the Pies) were probably short a ruck. We thought the combination would work, and as you know, Lobby's been a threatening forward over his journey."

With Hawthorn on the horizon in round 13, the Dogs are hopeful that key defender Jedd Busslinger will be available following a shoulder injury to provide enough defensive coverage to allow the ruck combination to continue.