Victoria University Whitten Oval welcomed some footballers of a different kind this week, receiving a visit from NFL stars Larry Fitzgerald and Andre Roberts.

Fitzgerald and Roberts - holidaying in Australia during their off-season - spent time watching training, meeting the players, and were presented with Bulldogs guernseys by Club captain Robert Murphy.

The ex-Arizona Cardinals teammates of Bulldogs Football Operations Manager Ben Graham, said that Graham had initially sparked their interest in the AFL.

“Knowing Ben Graham as a former teammate, I wanted to see the daily operations of Aussie Rules football, and being able to come out here and be able to watch the training session was really informative,” said Fitzgerald, the current Cardinals wide receiver.

After observing an intense three hour session on the track, Roberts, who has since moved to the Washington Redskins, said he was impressed with the athleticism of the Bulldogs playing group.

“(It’s) kind of like what we do, but we have on pads and they’re running a lot more than us.

“It looked real tough out there, you could tell those guys were real special athletes.”

Fitzgerald, the third pick in the 2004 NFL Draft and eight-time Pro Bowler, had some words of encouragement for the Bulldogs squad as they progress through pre-season.

“The pre-season I think is about camaraderie, doing team building activities.

“You saw that out there, the guys seemed like a very close knit group and that’s what’s going to carry you over throughout the regular season when you’re dealing with adversity.”