The Western Bulldogs have ramped up their pre-season training on the Sunshine Coast with defender Matthew Suckling revealing confidence is building at the Kennel as the new season approaches.

The Bulldogs completed 60 minutes of match play on top of a gruelling skills session on Sunday as they move into more advanced training three weeks out from AFLX games.

“It was some pretty hard work, but it was nice to get into some more match-play stuff,” Suckling said after Sunday's training session at Maroochydore Multisports Complex.

“This time of year the training starts to change a bit as we head into games and I think you can see all the competitive juices come out.

“It's pretty hot, but that's why we come up here, to make it harder for ourselves and put a bit more toll on our body and really force us to have some real quality in our training.”

While Suckling admits it was disappointing to miss finals last season, he is confident the Bulldogs are capable of recapturing their best form as they embark on the 2018 season.

“Playing finals is what you want to do and that's our aim at the moment, and we're really looking forward to getting into games and practice games and getting going again.”

The Bulldogs will take on the Sydney Swans and the Gold Coast Suns in an AFLX tournament at Allianz Stadium on Saturday, 17^th February.