WESTERN Bulldogs midfielder Daniel Giansiracusa has refused to bracket his team alongside fellow undefeated powers Geelong and Hawthorn despite sitting pretty in third position on the AFL ladder.

The Bulldogs have seven wins and a draw after eight rounds but Giansiracusa, who played a pivotal role in helping his side fight back to record a thrilling three-point win over Fremantle at Subiaco on Sunday, says the Dogs still have work to do before being able to be compared with the top two sides on the table.

“Obviously they’re the standouts [Geelong and Hawthorn] and it’ll be interesting; everyone’s talking about when they play later in the year,” Giansiracusa said.

“I think they’re a bit more advanced [than us].

“We’re younger, we’ve had closer games, and they’ve probably beaten the sides we have more convincingly.

“We’ve still got a lot of challenges coming up, and that’ll be next week against the Kangaroos as well. They were a top-four side last year, and we’re looking forward to that.”

The Bulldogs are three games clear of the fifth-placed Sydney Swans, but despite their superb start to 2008, 'Gia' says the men from the Whitten Oval won’t be reassessing their goals.

“We said that we wanted to make finals and we’re on track to do that, but in footy it can bite you on the bum pretty quickly if you get comfortable,” he said.

“You can call us robots and stuff like that, but you do look at the next week and tick that off and just go through the season that way, I think.”

While the 26-year-old was generous in his praise of Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis when asked – labelling the former Lion a “big-time player” – Giansiracusa said a more-rounded side was the key to the Bulldogs’ success so far this year.

“I believe we’re playing a consistent level of 22-man footy,” he said.

“We haven’t got any passengers.

“The fact that probably, and no disrespect to 'Johnno' and 'Westy', Westy’s been injured, Johnno hasn’t played his best footy, (and) we’ve still been able to rely on other guys. Everyone’s stepped up.

“Everyone’s playing a role and contributing, the 22 of us, and that’s what’s winning us games at the moment.”