Senior Coach Brendan McCartney has rewarded VFL form with the five inclusions to the extended 25-man squad to face Hawthorn on Sunday at Aurora Stadium.

Shaun Higgins headlines the names added to the Bulldogs squad, alongside Tom Campbell, Sam Darley, Mitch Honeychurch and Brett Goodes.

FINAL SQUADS: View the final Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn squads ahead of Sunday's clash.

A season ending foot injury to Mitch Wallis has seen him come out of the Bulldogs line-up that narrowly lost to Essendon, while Easton Wood has been omitted.

26-year-old Higgins has been named in the best for Footscray the past two weeks, and returns to the AFL squad after 23 disposals, five tackles and one goal in the Club’s 53-point VFL win over Essendon.

Darley was part of the Bulldogs side that defeated the Gold Coast Suns in Cairns, before being named as the match day emergency for the Dogs’ round 18 fixture against Essendon.

Hailing from North Hobart, Darley is on the cusp of a recall to play senior football in his home state for the first time says Assistant Coach Steven King.

“Higgo and Sammy have been going really well, Shaun went back to work on a couple areas of his game which he has done at VFL level and Sammy has just been stiff,” King said.

“We’ve had a pretty good run with injury, obviously we’ve lost a couple with Mitch Wallis and Clay going down but that gives opportunities to a couple others.”

Another in the mix to seize a senior opportunity is big man Tom Campbell, whose consistency at VFL level hasn’t gone unnoticed by the match committee.

“Tommy Campbell would be there abouts as well – he’s had a really great year in the twos dominating his position and we want to give him an opportunity before the end of the year as well,” he said.

The midfield grunt of Brett Goodes has been a highlight in the VFL this season, and has been named amongst the best players for Footscray in the past six consecutive games.

Draftee Honeychurch was omitted for the round 18 match against Essendon, making way for the return of captain Ryan Griffen and Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney, but with a minimum of two changes likely Honeychurch has the runs on the board in 2014 to push for a recall.

The Western Bulldogs will take on the second placed Hawthorn on Sunday 3 August 2014 at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, with the first bounce scheduled for 3:20pm.

Round 19 - Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs
Sunday 3 August 2014, 3:20pm
Venue: Aurora Stadium