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Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge described his team as "impatient" and "in a hurry" as they ramp up their pursuit of a second premiership miracle in four years.
While Beveridge won't reflect too much on 2016 – when the Bulldogs rose stunningly from seventh at the end of the home-and-away campaign to a fairytale grand final triumph – he knows as well as anyone in the AFL that miracles can happen.
After comprehensively downing Hawthorn by 36 points, the Dogs strengthened their finals claims, which they can secure by beating Fremantle next week in Cairns.
"It's a long time ago and our make-up is very different," Beveridge said.
"We'll reflect on some of the games we've lost against some of the teams up the top of the ladder and we'll remember why they got the better of us.
"Our challenge will be to beat Fremantle this week. As I've always said, we're impatient, we're in a hurry, we feel like you can have dramatic improvement pretty quickly. We feel like if you've got a spirit in your team and a collective mind that you can beat anyone, then who knows what may happen. I don't think that's going to be any different."
If they knock off the Dockers, Beveridge's charges – as they did in 2016 – will have to survive a series of knockout finals to taste glory.
He believes staying positive in adversity – an attribute the Dogs demonstrated when they didn't break stride despite losing Toby McLean with a serious knee injury early against the Hawks – will be the key.
''Time will tell if we actually make it – we've got an important game this week [against Fremantle] and we'll see what happens after that,'' he said.
"It's a year where the most resilient team and people will win the day. The ones who have been able to stay positive through adversity and hold their head up above water will probably be the ones on the dais at the end of the year.''
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