Thursday, March 27
Geelong Advertiser _ Fiona Welsh

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Peter Rohde promises fans will see a different team on Sunday to the one which lost to Geelong by 59 points in their Wizard Cup opening game a month ago.

He said their pre-season start was disappointing and they had worked hard to improve their performance.

With a 2-2 pre-season record, Rohde said he felt they were on the right track and was pleased with their three-goal win over Brisbane in their last outing.

``We were very keen to get a few things right after (the Geelong game). If nothing else we came away from the game knowing what we had to work on and we've done quite a bit,'' he said.

Not even talk of the Bulldogs' financial woes yesterday could distract Rohde, who was focused on the match at Telstra Dome on Sunday afternoon and making sure they got the score on the board.

``We're just dealing with today is like every other day, we are just doing the best we can in terms of preparing the team,'' he said.

He said winning early games was important not only to encourage members to sign up but also for the season ahead.

``Every game is important, every coach has that put on him and winning early games is important,'' he said.

``I'm keen to win as many as we can and if they are early in the season then I'll be sleeping well for the first couple of weeks.''

Among the new faces lining up for the Bulldogs this week will be former Port Adelaide defender Scott Bassett while first year player Cameron Faulkner and 2000 draftee Wayde Skipper could also make their debut.

Patrick Wiggins, who kicked two goals against Geelong in the Wizard Cup game, may also be in the mix with the Bulldogs keen to follow a more structured forward line.

Rohde said that could include captain Chris Grant, who had spent the pre-season honing his defensive skills, but could find himself switched between the roles as required.