WESTERN Bulldogs forward Shaun Higgins believes his side's intense summer regime is paying dividends at the right time of the season.

The Bulldogs' most recent pre-season training program was headed by former international triathlon coach Bill Davoren, who arrived at the club last November to replace Cameron Falloon as the head of physical performance.

Higgins, 21, said Davoren's influence on the group's fitness had been proven across the season, and was a key factor in their ongoing match readiness halfway through September.

"Throughout the year, we showed that going into last quarters, we were running them out well," he said in a video interview with westernbulldogs.com.au on Tuesday.

"You do all that pre-season training and all the home-and-away games to get into the situation we've got ourselves in now with playing in a preliminary final.

"All that work you did in the pre-season you hope comes to the fore now.

"Bill has done a magnificent job in getting our bodies right and our fitness up, so hopefully we can display that Friday night."

The Bulldogs will take on St Kilda in the first preliminary final encounter at the MCG, with the winner to face either Geelong or Collingwood in the decider the following week.

Higgins said the players were excited about the prospect of becoming the first Bulldogs' premiership side since 1954, which was the year the club claimed its only flag.

"It has been a long time, and we've been building towards this as a group for the past three or four years," he said.

"We've had a pretty similar side over that period with Rocket coming in and a new leadership program put in place. It has been a slow build up.

"On the back of last year and getting to a prelim final and then the disappointment of losing that, it's a massive game and a great opportunity for this group to create history.

"We've got to get over this week first and then anything can happen from there."

Higgins enters the preliminary final with 19 games under his belt for the year, which has been his most consistent effort since 2007.

His past season was wrecked by a broken ankle he sustained in round two, which kept him out until the second-last home-and-away round.

He played in all three of the Dogs' 2008 finals, and must have showed plenty of potential both on and off the track as he was later included in the side's seven-man leadership group following Scott West's retirement.

"As a young guy coming into the leadership group, you just want to learn off the guys who are already in there," Higgins said.

"We've got some great leaders in there who are all different styles, so it's been good for me to work on the style I've developed and also learn from others.

"It's been good to get through the majority of the year after coming off a couple of seasons where I've been injured, and I'm just looking forward to this week."