JACK Macrae has urged his fellow Western Bulldogs midfielders to adopt a "selfless" approach as a key plank of their plan to fire the club into premiership contention.

The Bulldogs have added gun recruit Adam Treloar to an onball division that was already so strong that Josh Dunkley asked to be traded out of the club last November in search of greater midfield opportunity.

Dunkley ultimately stayed at Whitten Oval and will be joined by Treloar alongside Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Bailey Smith, Lachie Hunter, Macrae and others in the rotation this season.

Macrae has his eyes firmly on a repeat of the Dogs' premiership success from five years ago and believes a team-first mentality will be crucial to their chances.

The 26-year-old said the long list of midfield specialists will be required to play different positions and take a back seat at times to allow teammates to shine in order for the unit to function effectively.

"We're going to have to adapt a bit and be flexible and also a bit selfless at times as well," Macrae said.

"Winning is the ultimate priority and we're all going to have to lean on each other throughout the year.

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"If we're all on the same page it's going to work really well.

"We all offer different strengths that really complement each other.

"It worked really well in the past. Back in 2016 it was our model where we would all share the load a bit more and look to play well as a team rather than just individually."

Treloar battled persistent calf tightness during the pre-season but was outstanding in a reserves practice match last week.

He is set to make his Bulldogs debut against his former club at the MCG on Friday night, having effectively been forced out of Collingwood during the trade period.

"There's a bit more feeling there with Adam and we're going to do our best to win for him but also for our fans and ourselves as well," Macrae said.

"There might be a bit of heat in it, especially for him, but we're just focused on starting the season really well."

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Plenty of water has passed under the bridge since Collingwood belted the Bulldogs in round one last year, before the 2020 season was thrown into chaos by the coronavirus pandemic.

But the 52-point shellacking still sticks in Dogs' collective memory bank.

"It was one of the worst games that I've been involved in, to be honest," Macrae said.

"We didn't bring the intensity that we wanted to and it was a bitterly disappointing night.

"After that we didn't play footy for a long time, so we sat on that performance.

"We're keen to show that we're a better club than that."