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Shayne Hope

Dogs eye berth in open AFLW finals series

Western Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke feels his side are well and truly in the AFLW premiership hunt. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Western Bulldogs coach Nathan Burke believes the battle for the AFLW premiership is broader than the much-touted "three-horse race".

Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide are the outstanding flag contenders, and have been all season.

But former St Kilda hard-nut Burke, whose Bulldogs are clinging to eighth spot ahead of a last-round meeting with Carlton on Friday night, senses an opportunity.

"We don't shy away from the fact that we want to win grand finals," Burke said.

"Even this year, if we win next week and we play finals, it's a whole new season and a whole new month of footy.

"There's some really good teams above us but on our best day I'm not scared of anyone.

"You never know what may happen, so once we get in, I'm aiming to go all the way."

The Bulldogs won the 2018 flag under Paul Groves but have not played finals since.

They have just a handful of premiership players remaining on what is now a relatively inexperienced list.

"There's none of this, 'Let's hopefully win a final and get the finals experience'," Burke said.

"They're too hard to get into, so once we're in we'll have a real crack."

The Bulldogs can lock in a finals appearance with a win or draw against Carlton at Ikon Park.

But a loss would leave the door slightly ajar for ninth-placed Gold Coast, who take on lowly GWS in the last of season seven's 90 home-and-away matches.

The Suns enter round 10 one win and 19.6 percentage points behind the Bulldogs.

At the top end of the ladder, Brisbane and Melbourne are expected to lock away first and second spots, which would give them home ground advantage for their respective qualifying finals.

The order could be crucial, with reigning premiers Adelaide looming dangerously in third.

The Demons are hot favourites against West Coast while the Lions take on fifth-placed Collingwood, who have been bumped out of the top four by Richmond.

The Tigers are riding a seven-match winning streak and take on in-form North Melbourne in what shapes as the most exciting match-up of round 10.

Both sides are in the hunt to secure a finals double-chance.

"We spoke about it quite a few weeks ago, that our destiny for this season is in our own hands," Kangaroos coach Darren Crocker said.

"The Tiges are going really well ... but I just want our players to come away from this game (the round-nine win over Collingwood) knowing that it doesn't matter what the opposition throw at us.

"If we can play our brand of football and play to our identity, we're a bloody hard team to beat."

Geelong sit seventh and are expected to tune up for the finals by beating Sydney at home on Saturday night.

Adelaide can lock away their top-four spot with an away win over St Kilda.

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