VIC POWER is back and should be celebrated, says Western Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson.

The Bulldogs ended the 2008 campaign of the remaining non-Victorian team, the Sydney Swans, in Friday night's semi-final, leaving five Victorian sides to battle for the premiership cup.

It is a far cry from the bulk of this decade with the Brisbane Lions, Port Adelaide, the Swans and the West Coast Eagles sharing the six flags from 2001 to 2006.

"Being a proud Victorian, it is great to see Victoria dominate the finals series this year," Johnson said from Whitten Oval on Saturday morning.

"Obviously the interstaters have done it for quite a while and hopefully the tide has turned for the next few years."

Essendon's premiership year of 2000 was the last time that Victorian teams were the last four standing.

And it occurred only once during the 1990s – in 1995 when Carlton, Geelong, Richmond and North Melbourne fought out the two preliminary finals.

In fact, they were the only two times it has happened in the 15 years since the dual preliminary final concept was introduced along with the top eight in 1994.

Though it's a triumph for the state, it is also a joyous occasion for the Bulldogs who have spent a decade out of deep finals action.

Johnson – one of two survivors from the Dogs' last preliminary final in 1998, along with injured teammate Scott West – said the current group had a more youthful feel and a totally different dynamic to the side that lost successive preliminary finals to Adelaide.

"The group in '98 was a probably bit older and this group has got the world at its feet," he said.