RYAN Griffen has been ruled out of the Western Bulldogs' opening round clash with West Coast on Sunday.

The star midfielder sustained a fractured finger on his left hand after receiving an accidental kick in the final NAB Cup match against Geelong.

Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney ended speculation about Griffen's availability for round one by confirming he would miss the game against the Eagles.

However, McCartney was confident the 25-year-old would be passed fit for the round-two contest with the Adelaide Crows at AAMI Stadium.

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"He won’t play on the weekend, we don’t mind saying that," McCartney said at Whitten Oval.

"But he'll be a strong chance to be available the week after … This time next week, we expect it'll be really ready to go."

Griffen joined in training drills today but handled the ball with his right hand only as he protected his sore left hand.

"Yeah, well, I guess if you had a broken finger, too, you wouldn’t want a footy hitting it," McCartney said.

"It doesn’t make sense to have the ball smashing into it when he's not going to play … It's not a massive injury, but if he gets hit on it again it'll be sore …

"He'll be in a much better place to play next week, and that's purely based on the medical advice we've been given, and we listen to the medical advice."

It's a huge blow - Griffen had been in almost career-best form after a superb pre-season, and the Dogs will certainly miss him against a deep West Coast midfield.

When it was suggested the loss of Griffen would leave a significant void, Bulldogs skipper Matthew Boyd spoke straight from the McCartney playbook.

"He's a fantastic player, but one of the things that we've got is good young midfielders who are going to get the opportunity to play in his spot," Boyd said.

"Yeah, he's a great player, but we're not going to rely on individual players with the system and structures we've got."

One of those young Dogs midfielders who appears certain of receiving such an opportunity is Clay Smith, who was secured with pick No. 17 overall in last year's NAB AFL Draft.

McCartney suggested there would be one debutant and perhaps two, but refused to mention names.

However, Smith, the hard-at-it left-footer, appears a readymade AFL player.

"I think he's had a fantastic pre-season," Boyd said of Smith. "He plays like a seasoned player already - he's tough, he's hard, and that's exactly what we want."

Another potential debutant for the Bulldogs is mature-age recruit Tory Dickson. The 24-year-old is a medium-sized forward and a deadly shot at goal, as he showed when he nailed a matchwinning snap shot with his non-preferred left foot in the NAB Cup thriller against Carlton.

Meanwhile, in other Bulldogs injury news, defender Dale Morris is making solid inroads in his recovery from a broken right leg. He ran with a protective brace at Tuesday's session.

"(It was) the first time he's done some change of direction at speed today … and twisting and turning on it," McCartney said. "He's just taking a while to get used to kicking the ball again … He's a warrior."

Fellow veteran Lindsay Gilbee, on his way back from a calf injury, appeared to move freely at training.