With a full pre-season to look over his list, there’s no surprise that Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has a reasonable idea what his team will look like when Round 1 of the 2018 premiership season gets underway this weekend.

The Dogs will travel to Canberra for the season opener on Sunday to take on Greater Western Sydney, and Beveridge has given SEN’s Gerard Whateley some insight into what to expect when the team is announced on Thursday night.

‘’There’s no doubt that some new recruits will play, there’ll be no doubt that there’ll be one or two boys who may have been a staple in the team who may miss out,” he said on Monday.

‘’But hand on heart, I reckon we’ve picked about 19 or 20 and there’s two or three who we need to finalise over the course of the week.”

The Dogs will be missing veteran defender Dale Morris and  defender Marcus Adams will miss up to three months with an ankle injury, but though the players will be missed, Beveridge said it will provides a chance for someone else step up and establish himself in the team.

“Coaching is always about maximising your capacity and your capability within your ranks and all it [injury] does for me is divert your attention to others and what they may be able to deliver for the team,’’ he said.

‘’There’s no doubt the two boys promise a hell of a lot in a Western Bulldogs 22 but in a way there’s some optimism around the opportunities that creates for other players.’’

What the Dogs won’t be missing this weekend is motivation to get the season off to the right start, with the coach acknowledging that a rivalry has developed with the Giants over the past few seasons, at least among the playing group.

“I have heard one or two of our players mention that there’s a bit of a rivalry.  I think a rivalry has developed over the last two or three years for various reasons, but both teams are very different.

“They’ve had one or two injuries like us, so the existing group against their group, there’ll be some uplift there in emotions I’d say.”