WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade believes his players will enter this year's preliminary final more mature and therefore better placed than they were 12 months ago.

Eade says a confident Dogs outfit will face St Kilda next Friday night, having put together a strong form line that hit just a minor hurdle last week against Geelong.

"I think we are ahead of last year – whether that equates to a result this week [we'll see]," he said after the Bulldogs' 51-point semi-final win over the Brisbane Lions.

"We lost the first one last year by 10 goals, and we lost it by two this year, then we won this equivalent game last year by six and we've won it by eight or nine this year.

"Going into this week, we have a bit more maturity and confidence about ourselves.

"Except for a down one-and-a half, two quarters last week, our form for the last four weeks has been good.

"So from that angle, the players should take a bit of confidence going in next week."

Eade conceded Friday night's win, played in warm and windy conditions, wasn't a terrific spectacle as errors ran across the four quarters.

However, he said he was impressed with his players' endeavour after many of them were down last weekend.

"I thought across the board, the courage and commitment of the players was fantastic, and every key indicator we won easily," he said.

"Perhaps if it wasn't windy, it might have been a few goals more. I thought we dominated for most of the night, and we won the hard ball and clearances were good, and I thought we put pressure on exceptionally well.

"We still made a number of fumbles and dropped chest marks, which was frustrating in the first half.

"I don't think the game is going to be on a highlights reel but having said that, I thought we persisted very well and the commitment to the task was great."

Eade said Liam Picken was exceptional in negating the influence of Justin Sherman and that Daniel Cross was terrific opposed to Simon Black.

Daniel Giansiracusa, Mitch Hahn and Ryan Griffen also responded to last week's poor performances.

"Gia was terrific and I think those players have confidence in the way they go about it and the way they prepare," Eade said.

"You see them train and you see them go about their business, so you've got confidence they'll turn it around.

"Daniel was terrific tonight, and Hahn has been pretty good but he was poor last week and he turned that around.

"Griffen played well and answered the pressure put on him. There were a few players [who answered] the challenge."

Eade said Griffen, who ended the night on the bench wrapped in ice, sustained a corked calf in the dying stages of the game and should be available for the preliminary final.

"He kicked himself in the last 10 minutes, so he'll be fine."