Western Bulldogs and Victoria skipper Marcus Bontempelli insists that Saturday's State of Origin game will have some edge but that if all players bring the "right attitude and appetite" he doesn't fear injuries.

The Bulldogs will be the best represented club in the match-up between Victoria and Western Australia in Perth, with three players on each team.

Speaking on radio this week, Bontempelli said the Victorian squad was highly motivated and appreciated the importance of putting on a show as the AFL attempts to reignite state football.

"In my head, it's a game of football. So you should be ready to play and ready to win. And I think that's what most of the boys that I've spoken to are prepared to do," Bontempelli told Triple M's Rush Hour.

"And … playing in it, you sort of feel the privilege that don't bugger it up, you know, for the rest of the comp because at this stage, it's only Victoria and WA.

"Hopefully they're scoping the future for a few of the other states to get in on it. And as much as that's not pressure … don't waste an opportunity to restart it."

Speaking on SEN, he dismissed suggestions it would be an exhibition game that lacked competitiveness.

"I can understand the sentiment, oh, is it just going to be an ‘All Star’ game? I don't think it will be," he told The Run Home with Andy & Gazey.

"That's my gut feel is guys are going there to play, you know, pull on the jumper and play together, not to just stat pad.

"And I think, you know, that's what (Chris Scott) and I have spoken about. That's what I've spoken about with my teammates who are playing."

With Sam Darcy, Ed Richards, Aaron Naughton, Rory Lobb and Tim English also heading west, Bulldogs fans could be forgiven some nervousness with so many star players participating, but Bontempelli insisted that the Club and his coach Luke Beveridge had been fully supportive, understanding the privilege of being selected.

"This is true to Bevo's character and temperament, he's pumped for us. Like he genuinely has his own strong emotions about State of Origin and there was zero conversation about not playing," Bontempelli said.

"It was all about, mate, if that opportunity comes up, you've got to play, you know, because you don't know when the next one might come.

"Hopefully it's a year-on-year thing or it's a regular occurrence, but he's basically made an announcement every meeting after a player's been picked and said, it's just an absolute privilege to pull on your jumper and be part of this game.

"So all of us … we'll be hoping and praying no one gets injured and no one gets hurt. But like I said before, there's games being played anyway.

"Ultimately, I think if all the lads playing have the right attitude and appetite, no one gets injured. That'd be sort of a priority if we can avoid anyone getting hurt."

Asked about the players he was most looking forward to lining up with, Bontempelli lamented the fact that Jeremy Cameron has been ruled out with injury, but called out Max Gawn and Zak Butters as players he's excited to see wearing the same jumper.

"Of the young players, you know, Zak Butters, I love his tenacity. He reminds me of (Tom Liberatore) in a bunch of different ways, like just absolute dog-hungry competitors that just want to win," Bontempelli said.

Bontempelli was fulsome in his praise for club and state teammate Sam Darcy and how he's developed physically and become harder to stop in recent years.

"You've got to understand. There's no match-up for Sam Darcy at this point. Not in the comp," he said.

"There's some players that make it really difficult for him across the league, and that's been in his first couple of seasons. But there's probably a few out there that are probably still developing like Sam was that are that tall and can meet him at the highest point. So I know our guys have found it tough.

"It's been great for Lobby and others to get a look at what's a really good building young player. He's already obviously doing great things. Yeah, he's been sensational."

Asked about what the focus for the Bulldogs will be heading into 2026, Bontempelli confirmed recent comments by Beveridge that improving pressure and tackling will be high on the priority list.

"For us, we want to be better at applying pressure, tackling, sticking tackles, to be able to support our defense,” he said.

“It's slowing the ball down but once it did get through it got all the way through and that's what we're trying to work on is making those scenarios (that) Bevo has spoken to is being able to deal with them a bit better and hopefully the pressure is better and increases.

"And then our ability to defend the ground as a whole improves. Because I do believe we don't have a massive (gap), and the scoreboard suggests that. We lost to those teams, yes, too often and regularly, and only beat the Giants in the end twice.

“The other teams we were never really too far away from. We just couldn't get them in the end. So I'm very optimistic."