Murphy: Dogs not intimidated
16/07/2008 3:25 PM
The mood at Whitten Oval is upbeat and the Western Bulldogs are excited about the prospect of taking on Geelong in Saturday's first-versus-second clash at Skilled Stadium, according to Dogs forward Robert Murphy.
Murphy said the Bulldogs will not be intimidated by the defending premiers, who will be missing injured stars Gary Ablett (ankle) and Cameron Ling (fractured cheekbone).
"I don't think intimidation is the right word, but certainly they’re as good as it gets," said Murphy who trained away from the main group for much of Wednesday's short session at Whitten Oval.
"This is why you play - you want to knock off the best."
Asked if he'd prefer to play a full-strength Geelong side, Murphy said: "You just play who's lining-up on the weekend."
"They (Ablett and Ling) are obviously two great players but, as with most weeks, there's always usually one or two out, so I don't think that'll change the way we play too much."
Team-mate Daniel Giansiracusa agreed the spirit is good among the Bulldogs who are not allowing the hype around Saturday's clash to disturb their build-up.
"We've tried to just keep it the same the whole time," said Giansiracusa.
"Whether we came up against Melbourne last week or Geelong this week, we've just kept it the same and tried to stick to the routine."