'Defence wins premierships': Dogs ready for wildcard

Western Bulldogs midfielder Matt Kennedy is confident the club has found a perfect balance between attack and defence at the right time of the season.

After a rollercoaster campaign, the Bulldogs will battle Collingwood in a historic wildcard match at the MCG on Friday night that will begin a five-week finals series.

The Dogs started 2026 brightly, winning their first four matches, including stirring triumphs in Brisbane and Adelaide.

But injuries, Sam Darcy the most notable, led to a decline where they lost five of six games.

A shock defeat to North Melbourne in round 22 had the football public largely writing Luke Beveridge's side off.

But a brave draw against Carlton, without Marcus Bontempelli, and an impressive win over Melbourne last week has the Bulldogs faithful believing again.

A renowned attacking team, the Dogs' best wins have come on the back of team defence.

"It's a bit of throwaway saying, but defence wins premierships," Kennedy told AAP.

"That's something we really focused on in the pre-season, especially coming off last year.

"It probably took a little bit longer than what we would have liked, and had to change a few things, and go back and forth a little bit.

"But I feel like we've struck a good balance between our offence and defence, and they both link into one another as well. We've got a pretty good mix at the minute, and hopefully we've worked it out just in time."

It will be Kennedy's first finals campaign since arriving at the Whitten Oval from Carlton during the 2024 trade period.

The Bulldogs remain searching for a first finals win since they won three-straight games on the road to make it to the 2021 decider.

"I feel like we're starting to hit form at the right time of the year and really believe," Kennedy said.