Still stinging from the upset loss to West Coast that scuppered the Western Bulldogs' 2023 finals chances, midfielder Adam Treloar is determined not to let history repeat.
Premiership fancies going into last season, the Bulldogs ended up missing the finals after suffering a disastrous seven-point defeat at home to the Eagles in round 23.
Last year's wooden spooners, West Coast have lost their first two games but Treloar isn't taking four points for granted at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
"It's definitely one of those games you look back on and it impacted our season," Treloar told AAP.
"Believe me, we're not underestimating anyone.
"We've just gotta bring the intensity.
"We know that they're going to want to come over here and really hit us like they did last year when they beat us in that second last game of the year, which was really disappointing for us.
"So we've just got to prepare. We've got to prepare for what they're gonna bring.
"We look after how we want to play our contest side, our defensive side, then the scoreboard will take care of itself."
Youngsters Ryley Sanders and Harvey Gallagher have delivered extra run while small forward Cody Weightman's midfield bursts bring energy too.
"It's no surprise when you look at a lot of the great clubs that have sustained success and win premierships, they've got an influx of players can go through the middle of the ground," Treloar said.
"And I felt like last year sometimes that got a little bit too stale, we didn't really have enough players going through there.
"They (Sanders, Gallagher and Weightman) definitely keep us all motivated and energy-wise around the ball always bringing that energy and pressure.
"I feel like the more players we can get through there, the better we can run out games and I guess it adds more strings to the bow for some of our players who do play inside a lot.
"They can then go forward and maybe bob up and kick a goal here and there."
The Bulldogs' impressive win over Gold Coast, off the back of brutal work around scrimmages, has Treloar believing they can push to return to finals contention.
"Hopefully this can be the springboard and launchpad into where we want to go to," he said.
At 31, and averaging 29 touches a game this season, Treloar is still playing a key role in that charge.
"I always pride myself on my performance and looking after my body and the minute I can't really do that is probably the time that I retire," he said.
"I'm just extremely motivated to be a part of success and not let the boys down."
