The Bulldogs have left their distinct imprint on games in recent weeks, and forward Tory Dickson says the next step is to translate this impact to the scoreboard come final siren.

Asserting their influence with a strong, physical brand of football has allowed the Dogs to lead opponents in the contested ball this past fortnight, something Dickson believes need be replicated against Melbourne.

“We want the games to [look] the right way, we want to play the right way and we want it to look as good as we can,” Dickson said.

“But obviously there’s another team that’s trying to do the complete opposite – so they are trying to get it on their terms.

“It is a positive that we are getting it looking the way we are but we haven’t got the result yet and that is what we want in the end.”

The Bulldogs and Melbourne have posted two wins this season, with both gaining recognition for their improving defensive effort, pressure and work rate.

Despite recent narrow defeats, Dickson said the playing group's application and attitude on the training track hadn’t wavered.

“We want to really try and focus in on working on a couple of things we needed to fix up,” he said.

“We’ve trained well, everyone’s upbeat and dismissed last week and got over it and obviously the challenge is Melbourne now.”