With the Bulldogs’ first match of 2015 only a day away, Steven King says the group is excited to put a pre-season of planning into practice.

Under new coach Luke Beveridge, King says the playing group started the pre-season with a clean slate, and was looking forward to seeing their progress in a real match.

“With a new coach, there’s still things we haven’t nailed down completely yet so playing against opposition will give us an opportunity to experience that and see how we go.

“We’ll have a look at a few different players in new positions and I think you’ll see a lot more players playing multiple positions around the ground, it’s something we’ve been trying to drum into the boys all pre-season.”

King said that while it was a great opportunity to take on opposition, rather than training against each other, the focus would be on his side’s game, not on Richmond.

“I’m not sure of their squad at the moment so I’m not sure how experienced they’ll go in, but for us it’s just about trying to practice the way Luke (Beveridge) wants us to play as a team and to see how the boys take it on under a bit of fatigue and match pressure.”

The Bulldogs will head into the match with a near full list, including first games in Dogs’ colours for Tom Boyd and Joel Hamling, and the first senior outing for Josh Prudden.

After a 14 year hiatus, AFL football will return to Victoria University Whitten Oval and King says it’s an exciting prospect, and will hopefully give the Dogs a small edge.

“I think it will be really exciting, we saw last year the atmosphere of VFL footy and a VFL final.

“It’s a unique ground, there’s always a lot of wind around and it’s pretty open so you’d like to think the boys will feel pretty comfortable being here and playing.”