Western Bulldogs midfielder Jack Macrae has hit out at critics predicting the club is suffering a premiership hangover.
The ball magnet says the club is working hard to address shortcomings that have seen the Doggies flounder, losing four of their past six matches and dropping outside the top eight.
"I don't think we are [suffering a premiership hangover], but obviously we haven't played our best footy," Macrae told ESPN.
"They [the critics] can say what they want. There's been a lot of noise outside about a whole range of things in the last few weeks and it doesn't bother us.
"We know what we are. There's a great group of blokes around the club. We're not focusing on what they media are saying. We're just focusing on playing footy."
As the Bulldogs broke one of the longest premiership droughts in sport's history - 62 years - long-suffering footy fans told the grand final-winning players they could die happy. That alone could see a loss in drive, having already delivered the Holy Grail to success-starved followers, but Macrae insists he is determined to prove last year was no fluke.
"It's hard to say, but speaking from my point of view, I'm just as hungry," he said. "Every week I come here just to get the job done and I can speak pretty confidently for the rest of the group as well. We've just got to face some of those challenges and get back to our best footy."
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