Assistant coach Marc Webb spoke to media at the Bulldogs’ open training session on Friday. Here are the key talking points.

Cody Weightman...
“We’ll play (Cody) by ear. It’s one of those situations where you’ve got to give him his best opportunities forward, but as you know strong defences will really lock down on him.
“He also brings something different to what we’ve got (in the midfield) at the moment, so I think it’s a work in progress. We’ve liked what we’ve seen so far though.
“His work in close and his fast feet are really good attributes. His ability to move and react to the play is one of his strength too, and being able to compliment some of those bigger bodies inside is really important. We’ve seen some of that, so hopefully he keeps bringing that to life.

Adam Treloar...
“(Adam) is moving quite well and is running today. Hopefully we see him back in the next week or so.
“He’s been getting volume in – so to have him back sooner rather than later is (ideal).
“He’s a guy who keeps himself in good shape, so it’s always a challenge trying to make up those last few weeks of pre-season. There’ll hopefully be enough time for him to get out there - barring any other issues – and get himself ready to play round one.

Bailey Smith...
“(Bailey) was very close to playing today. Hopefully he gets a full week in next week, and we see him back in match sim in the coming weeks.
“It’s been that general soreness in volume. He’s super fit so that’s not an issue, it’s just trying to make sure he keeps his running capacity and his workload together to get him out at the right time.

Sam Darcy...
“It’s been a good opportunity for Sam to stabilise down back. He’s spent a fair bit of time down there in match sim, but there’s also the opportunity – when we can – to throw him forward and ruck as well. (Those positions) haven’t completely been thrown out the door.
“With Sam, and even Josh Bruce, there’s opportunities at both ends for them. We want to see what kind of mix we can get at both ends.
“We didn’t really see Sam out on the training track last year at all during the pre-season. He came in with a few games of VFL and obviously had that really strong performance against Hawthorn late in the year. Being able to build body and find some consistency now has been really big.

Tim English...
“(Tim)’s strength around the contest is a big one. His ability to read the play both forward and back is really strong – taking big marks at each end is a key part of his game.
“We just really want to see that consistency – I think he’s bringing it to life early, so it’s just a good opportunity for him to build the training sessions as they come.
“Definitely last year, really early in the year, he played some really strong football before that concussion and illness – so we saw some really strong signs there. If we can continue to build on that base and get that for the whole season, it’d be really good.

Toby McLean...
“He played the last final against Freo, so we know his ability and capacity. He played predominantly on the wing that day so he’s got a lot of versatility there.
“He’s been going through the mids and forward as well because we know he’s played those roles really well. Nothing hasn’t really been bedded down yet – the opportunity is there for him to find his feet in multiple roles. A player that has that versatility is very important.”