BRAD Johnson and Nathan Eagleton would not have been named for Friday night's NAB Cup clash against Essendon if the match had remained in Darwin.

Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade says the re-location of the game to Telstra Dome has benefitted a number of senior players, even though the priority is to raise funds for the families affected by the Victorian bushfires.

"It’s such a long flight [to Darwin]," he said from Whitten Oval on Wednesday. "Five hours up and five hours back. That’s why we were contemplating those players (Johnson and Eagleton) not going because of the flight situation, not so much the humidity.

"I think in that sense it’s a plus but, having said that, you’d rather not have the bushfires."

The Dogs will also unveil a host of untried players in the NAB Cup Bushfire Appeal game with Eade confirming that Easton Wood, Brennan Stack, Jarrad Grant, Paul O’Shea and rookie Henry White would play.

But November's first-round draft pick Ayce Cordy will have to wait a little longer to pull on a Bulldogs jumper.

"As you’d imagine with a guy his build, he hasn’t done all the training," Eade said.

"He’s been in and out of training. He’s not struggling to cope, that’s not the right phrase, but he’s been up and down with how he’s coped. Same with young Jordan Roughead.

"We’ll just monitor that and we’re not going to rush those young guys."

Robert Murphy and Brownlow Medallists Adam Cooney and Jason Akermanis aren't available but Eade is expecting them to feature at some stage of the pre-season.

Murphy and Cooney continue their recovery from knee surgery while Akermanis strained his calf last month.

"Murphy’s tracking on really well at the moment, fingers crossed. He’s probably about three weeks ahead of schedule," Eade said.

"Coons is going well. He’s just now into agility and speed work so he should be joining the main group as far as football probably in the next week or two. He’ll be right for NAB third round.

"Murph will as well and Aka (Akermanis) I think will be about the same."