After spending much of their 2021 season in the wild west, the Bulldogs will travel to Optus Stadium full of confidence ahead of a do-or-die Elimination Final against Fremantle and midfielder Roarke Smith says they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We love heading over to WA,” Smith said.

“As a group we spent a lot of time there in the hub and we love the warmer weather and the beautiful beaches over there.

“We’re pumped to get over there and hopefully put on a good performance for the Dogs supporter.”

The Bulldogs waited with bated breath across Sunday afternoon, defeating Hawthorn before waiting on the Collingwood and Carlton result to determine the result of their season at the club hotel.

Everyone saw the video on social media – the boys were over the moon,” Smith said.

“Such a close game and a nail-biting finish - the way it panned out couldn’t have been any more perfect for us.”

“It’s just exciting – the (home-and-away) season is over, we don’t have to worry about making finals, we’re already in.

“Now we can just play our best footy and reset –we have the week off this week which is good boys can reset mentally and physically.”

“We can’t wait to head to Freo.”

Smith had a big say in the result over in Launceston, collecting 19 disposals and three goals, impacting the scoreboard in a critical game for percentage.

“To be honest the ball just bounced right on the day for me – got bit lucky with a free kick,” he said.

“You can work your arse off and not get rewarded – lucky for me the rewards came on the scoreboard – it felt good.”

“It’s been a frustrating year – things work out the way they do for a reason. I am just lucky to be in the side at the moment playing some good footy and hopefully I can continue that through the finals series – just like last year.

The Bulldogs will face Fremantle in front of a sold-out crowd at Optus Stadium on Saturday night, September 3.