WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has declared Adam Cooney and Robert Murphy certain starters for their round one clash with Fremantle at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

The Bulldogs had a light run on Subiaco Oval on Saturday and even though Cooney didn’t train, Eade said the Brownlow Medallist would take his place after a summer hampered by a knee injury.

"I have no idea how close to 100 per cent he will be, I can only guess," Eade said. "He's trained well for three or four weeks and the thing he has missed is as much game time as the others.

"He played in three games of varying lengths, so it's just match fitness he's short of.

"As far as fitness goes, he is nearly 100 per cent. His game time will be down from normal and we might use him down forward a little.

"Robert is in a similar position to Adam, it's just match conditioning. He trained well this week, is out there [training] and he'll play."

Eade also shared his thoughts on the make-up of the opposition, preparing for the late omission of utility Luke McPharlin.

He joked that a few other Fremantle players were in doubt.

"We don’t think Luke will play, but we will certainly prepare for him to play," Eade said.

"We've also heard a couple of their players are battling hamstring problems. I'm just being mischievous about that, but serious about thinking Luke won't play."

Eade expects a tough challenge from Fremantle, but is confident his team is ready for a strong season to build on its preliminary final finish in 2008.

"We're feeling pretty good and excited about the season. We are under no illusions how tough it is to play here (at Subiaco Oval) though," he said.

"Freo has had a very good summer, been in good form in the pre-season games and the way Carlton played the other night shows how good Freo must have been to beat them.

"They will play with confidence and it will be a tough game for us, but we are looking forward to it."

Draftees Stephen Hill and Nic Suban will make their debuts for Fremantle but Eade won't be giving them any extra attention.

"They are very talented lads and with the senior players retiring they will be looking to youth and are an exciting, young team," he said.

"Last year we only won by three points here and with the young players they can look forward to the future. Hill won't be treated any differently than anyone else and there's no focus on him, or Suban."

Weather forecasts have brought the expected conditions for the game back under 30 degrees and Eade believes it will make recovery much easier for both sides.

"The weather's not an issue playing, the impact is the next week and it would be the same for Fremantle," he said.