Mark Stevens | September 09, 2008 12:00am

WESTERN Bulldogs president David Smorgon has challenged his players to rediscover their fight in Friday's sudden-death final against Sydney. Smorgon said the Dogs "gave in without a yelp" in the qualifying final against Hawthorn, shedding the never-say-die attitude that set up their position in the top four.

"Apart from the first few minutes, at no stage did we look like we were in the contest," Smorgon said.

"That's contrary to the way we've played, even going back to Round 1 when we were four goals or so behind Adelaide and got up to win.

"At no stage did we give up the ghost in other games.

"That was the disappointing thing about Friday night. We just gave in without a yelp, I thought."

But Smorgon has backed the club to respond from the 51-point thumping against the Hawks.

"It would be our worst game for the year. But that's been and gone," Smorgon said.

"I have faith and confidence in our ability as a club to fight back.

"I know people are saying it's the end of the road and the rest of it, but let's just see the response of our club on Friday night before we jump to any conclusions.

"It ain't over yet. There would be 10 other clubs that would love to be playing on Friday night.

"I don't think it's crisis time. I don't think it's anything disastrous."

Fairly or unfairly, the perception of the Dogs' season hinges on what they deliver in two hours on Friday night against the Swans.

Respond and win, booking a preliminary final clash with Geelong, and the Dogs will been seen to have taken significant steps this year.

Even with 15 wins and a draw in the bank after nine wins in 2007, the Dogs will be perceived as a disappointment if they lose to the Swans.

Smorgon said the clash at the MCG was the club's biggest game since the 1998 preliminary final against Adelaide "in terms of opportunity".

"Clearly, everyone in the football world, and others, will be looking to see how the Bulldogs are going to respond," Smorgon said.

"That's the challenge for us as a club. In particular the 22 guys out there Friday night."

Smorgon said a strong showing against the Swans would be a positive in the search for a sponsor to replace the departing Lease Plan, but any business would be taking a long-term view.

"Sponsors don't come in for one or two games. We're talking to a few parties who understand where we're heading and the credentials we have," he said.

Smorgon said any rating of the Bulldogs depended on the benchmarks set.

"Frankly, not many people at the beginning of the year thought we'd play finals," Smorgon said.

"Have we improved on last year in terms of games won, ladder position and development as a club? You'd have to say yes we have.

"On the other hand, have we closed the gap on Geelong? That remains to be seen.

"Hopefully we'll get a chance to show where we're at on Friday or Saturday week.

"Clearly, they're the benchmark and clearly we were exposed in a number of areas by Hawthorn on Friday night."

Smorgon said he had spent no time contemplating the ramifications of another loss this week.

"I'm not going to jump to conclusions of what may or may not happen after that game," Smorgon said.

"If we win, we'll worry about Geelong. If it doesn't work out the way we want, we will critically analyse how we are going to improve again."

Smorgon also made it clear the club needed to be work hard to fill problem areas, regardless of results in coming weeks.

"Clearly there's areas where we need to be very aggressive in recruiting and drafting," he said.