The scary thing about the Western Bulldogs is that, on paper, they are categorically a better team than last year.

But how prepared they are mentally will be fascinating to watch when they play Collingwood on Friday.

Often, round one can be a good time to ambush the reigning premiers - if you've won a grand final you definitely have a more festive summer than most.

This week we've seen several flashbacks to that drought-breaking triumph. Could they get caught up in that? Possibly, but I don't think so.

Most footballers seem to have a fear of failure, and that fear drives you.

No matter how good a season you've had as an individual or as a team, each year you come back and there's something in the back of your mind that says: "Can I reach those heights again? Can I get better?"

You'll find the players who don't have that mindset are inconsistent.

If you look at Patrick Dangerfield, Scott Pendlebury, Gary Ablett and Joel Selwood - their consistency is what makes them great.

Now the likes of Marcus Bontempelli and Tom Liberatore should be asking themselves how they can take their game to the next level.

And while the people of the western suburbs might still be celebrating, after listening to Bob Murphy this week, it seems that within the four walls of the club, the Dogs are as focused as ever.

Murphy, as skipper, will play a key role in maintaining that focus given how hungry he will be.

Coaches will generally say you need about a 20 per cent turnover in terms of personnel from the previous year to freshen things up.

You look at round one and the Dogs almost have that already, with Murphy joined by Stewart Crameri and Travis Cloke - all of whom should make them better.

Although, there's still a question mark over Cloke's recruitment. We don't know yet what he'll produce, but it was absolutely a risk worth taking.

At one point in time, he was the best contested mark in the game and while he's not that now, Cloke should get a lot more opportunities to score.

In turn, his presence allows Tom Boyd to play ruck-forward rather than as a forward-ruck.

Boyd had a great grand final with those three goals, but it was his strong pack-marking when the Dogs had to go down the line out of defence that proved he had arrived.

Now Travis can become the next kick in that chain. Friday night is a massive game for him against his former club and the first 10 minutes will be crucial in terms of his confidence.

But even though Cloke will be under no illusions about what to expect, the pressure might not be as intense as a role player under Luke Beveridge.

Added to Cloke, Crameri's inclusion should ease the burden on Jake Stringer and allow him to move up the ground more often, ensuring the Dogs could be more potent this year.

But while the noises out of the kennel all seem to be positive, the same can't be said for the Magpies.

Sometimes it's like the world is against Nathan Buckley.

Again the club has weathered an off-field distraction heading into the opening round with the Jordan De Goey broken hand incident. It's fair to say the coach already has enough to deal with given he declared it's finals or bust if he wants to keep his job.

As such, the Pies have clearly recruited for "the now", but how much of an impact will those players actually have? Daniel Wells is stuck on the sidelines until at least round three and Lynden Dunn is on the fringe.

Chris Mayne is also big question mark given he hasn't kicked a goal in his past seven home and away matches, putting plenty of pressure on 21-year-old Darcy Moore to deliver.

The Pies do have midfield depth, but given the Bulldogs move the football so quickly, I think their defence could also be a problem. So many times last year they got opened up and their opposition was able to score freely.

Having said that, when these two sides last met, the Dogs fell over the line by just three points in a tense game at Etihad Stadium late in the season.

This time around, the Magpies should be a month more advanced in terms of their preparation after failing to play in September and that preparation can be important.

But if you look in the pure sense of manpower - can Collingwood kick a winning score? Or can they stop the Bulldogs from doing the same? That might prove too difficult.