Senior coach Luke Beveridge has signalled the Club's NAB Challenge campaign has been deliberately geared towards hitting the Club’s Easter Sunday season opener at full speed.

Beveridge’s Bulldogs went into Thursday night’s match against the Giants with just 24 players, two less than their opponents.

The Bulldogs senior coach telling gathered media post-match that it was important for his players to get the workload into their legs, especially with introduction of the interchange cap this season.

“We’re definitely gearing towards round one,” Beveridge said.

“It’s at the forefront of our thinking and planning, not playing 26 players, making sure our rotations are around about where they need to be for round one, we needed to practice that.. so we achieved our objectives.”

After a slow start, kicking seven straight behinds to open the match, the Dogs started to hit their stride, eventually running out 31-point winners over a young Giants squad at Canberra’s Star Trak Oval. 

Beveridge said that while there were areas that he would continue to refine with the players over the ensuing weeks, overall he was happy with the side’s first official hit-out of 2016.

“We looked at this game as an opportunity to practice with a group who’ve pushed themselves up for selection straight away, and we’ve trained the rest of our group this afternoon (Thursday),” Beveridge said.

“They’ve probably had a similar type of workout, so we’re looking for the conditioning effect of the night and getting prepared for round one.”

Koby Stevens was a welcome addition to the side after returning from injury, his  29 disposals, five tackles and a goal earning him best on ground honours.

All Australian forward Jake Stringer picked-up where he left off last season booting three goals, along with four behinds and a further two score assists.

New recruit Matthew Suckling played his first game in Bulldogs colours, the coach impressed with the former Hawk’s output.

“Yeah he was good, Piggy, he was very, very good, you saw what he was going to offer us," he said.

“He ran hard, he’s quick, he used his leg, and he’s a great acquisition for us. 

“I was really happy with his first up performance for the club.”