Experience will be the order of the day - or evening - when the Bulldogs' VFL side takes on Richmond in a practice match at VU Whitten Oval tomorrow night.

Footscray captain Jordan Russell said he was looking forward to seeing a strong blend of AFL and VFL listed players taking the field against the Tigers in the first VFL hit-out of the season.

"We'll have a pretty experienced side out on the park this week,” Russell told westernbulldogs.com.au.

“We'll have hopefully as many AFL players [as possible] ready to go, topped top with some really good VFL players who've had really good pre-seasons."

One experienced player who won't be out there will be Russell himself, as he recovers from post-season surgery. But the skipper isn't far away from a return to the field.

"I said to Gracy, I probably need to sit this one out. I've had a bit of wrist surgery over the break so a couple more [weeks] and then hopefully I'll get a gig."

'Gracy' is the Bulldogs' new VFL coach Steve Grace, a former assistant coach at both Fremantle and Collingwood, who steps into the shoes of Ashley Hansen, now the Bulldogs' AFL forwards coach. Russell said Grace had slotted nicely into the new role, bringing his own touch to the group.

"Gracy's been great. I'm sharing an office with him and I've got to know him really well and he's a really good guy. Great character, very genuine. I think it's been quite tough for him to come in and learn a whole new game plan as well as teach it to the VFL boys ... and he's done a great job.

"He's been an assistant coach at two different AFL clubs so he brings a bit of wisdom and a different way of going about things compared to what Ash did, so [we're] looking forward to it."

Russell is looking forward to rising to the challenge of keeping the reigning premiers near the top of the ladder and says the infusion of three players coming off AFL lists - Jayden Foster (Carlton), Billy Gowers (Carlton) and Matthew Goodyear (Collingwood) - will help the Bulldogs develop the team's younger players.

"I think it's great for the VFL boys and blokes coming out of TAC [Cup] because they've got three guys there who have done it before. They've been in the system and they know how to train and push themselves to the next level so it's great to have those guys around."

With the addition of those three and the return of nine VFL-listed premiership players, Russell - last year's best and fairest winner - will have no trouble motivating himself when he returns to the team.

"We had 11 guys who played in the flag last year and all bar two have come back, along with the depth guys from last year. I think the best thing about 2017 is we've been able to keep our core players together and really add to the depth [with Foster, Gowers, Goodyear].

“It keeps me young. I've ticked over 30 so I need all the motivation I can get and these guys provide it week in, week out for me."

The VFL side's practice match will commence at 6pm tomorrow evening. Click here for match information.