Brimming with confidence after a 3-1 start to the season, Luke Beveridge’s Bulldogs side will take a fearless approach to their round five match against Sydney.
The Dogs take on last year’s grand finalists coming off a big win and Beveridge says the positive start to the season should hopefully aid his young group.
“We’re obviously going about things in a different way and there’s no doubt we’ve got a little bit of a spring in our step,” Beveridge said, speaking with media at Melbourne airport on Friday.
“We go into this game with no holds barred and feeling pretty good about ourselves and hopefully that bodes well for a good performance.”
TEAMS: View the full team that will line up against the Sydney Swans.
Beveridge said the inclusion of Fletcher Roberts into the side was a positive for the Club, with competition for spots heating up.
“The great thing is that players and all our personnel coming in are grasping their opportunities and there’s a bit of pressure there for spots.
“Unfortunately Granty’s had to make way this week for Fletcher Roberts so that’s really healthy, there’s just lots of positive really.”
MATCH INFO: View the round five match information for Western Bulldogs v Sydney Swans.
The Dogs will also be buoyed by the performance of Michael Talia last week against Adelaide’s Taylor Walker.
Talia kept Walker to nine possessions and one goal, and will be looking to carry that form into the Swans’ match to curtail the influence of a powerful forward line that includes Lance Franklin.
“Michael will play on him (Franklin) at different times but he won’t have him for the whole game.
“He’s had a good start to the year Tals, but there’s some other challenges, Tippett and Reid and Goodes comes in so Tals will spend some time on most of those guys.”