Western Bulldogs senior coach Luke Beveridge says despite the challenges of being on the road and away from home, the players and staff are focussed on the task ahead of them.

The Bulldogs took a 27-player squad to Sydney last Sunday afternoon, and will train there before flying to Perth the day before their clash with Fremantle.

Despite being outside of Victoria, the playing group and football staff are required to live by the state’s lockdown rules – which includes wearing a mask outdoors, exercising for up to two hours a day, and being restricted to a 5km radius.

Beveridge said while it’s been a tough couple of days for the travelling group, he feels for the players who didn’t make the trip.

“We can’t escape the fact that it is a challenge – for the 18 players who are left back in Melbourne it’s probably even more of a challenge,”

Beveridge told media over Zoom on Tuesday morning.

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Luke Beveridge | 'We can't escape the fact it's a challenge'

Head Coach Luke Beveridge spoke to the media via Zoom from Sydney ahead of the Round 12 clash with Fremantle.

“We would have loved to take everyone (to Sydney), but we had a state-league game against Werribee on the radar this Sunday, so if we took everyone there was a chance that players wouldn’t be able to come back and play in that.

“We struck a balance and brought the group who were probably in line to be selected for the 23.”

Beveridge said the extra time together should also provide a good opportunity for the Sydney-based playing group to better prepare for their upcoming match.

“We anticipate it’s only for a week, and then after our Fremantle game we’re meant to come back (to Melbourne) and have a little bit of a break, after what’s been a really productive start to our football season,” Beveridge said.

“Perhaps last week in the lead-up to the game, we don’t think we trained as well as we had been, so we’ll put a price on what we do especially today to kick it off.

“It’s an opportunity to galvanise and be together at different times of the day when we wouldn’t normally be, and then look forward to the challenge of Fremantle who are always a very difficult task.”

The Bulldogs are scheduled to meet the Dockers at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon.