Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon has taken a swipe at his AFL club's "Humpty Dumpty" supporters who refuse to commit their cash to the cause.

Smorgon said the Bulldogs had to get better next year at recruiting members, as the club's 2008 membership of 28,712 was one of the lowest in the league despite the club doing well on-field.

"We've had a struggle with membership this year," Smorgon said at the pre-game function before the Bulldogs took on Essendon at Telstra Dome.

"Unfortunately we have a lot of Humpty Dumpty, sit on the fence until you're sure we're playing in finals (type supporters) and they're the ones who won't put their money into the club.

"We've got to work harder to overcome that resistance from so many people.

"We can't afford to let the bridge between the big clubs and the smaller clubs keep on widening."

Smorgon congratulated two of the other smaller clubs in the competition - North Melbourne on attracting 34,000 members this season and Melbourne, who broke through the 30,000 barrier once Jim Stynes took over as chairman.

"I hope (those tallies) are sustainable for both clubs' sake, but I know we at the Bulldogs will continue to work very hard to get as many members as we can," Smorgon said.

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