Bulldogs Development Manager and VFL Coach Chris Maple is expecting his side will come out with maximum effort for their Preliminary Final against Port Melbourne tomorrow.

Maple is unfazed by Port’s home ground advantage, and instead focused on the task at hand to get the Bulldogs into a coveted Grand Final. 

“We’ve had a bit of a mantra (this season), it doesn’t mean who you play, where you play or when you play – you just have to come out with maximum effort – and that’s what our guys will have tomorrow,” Maple said.

“We’ve trained really well in the past 2 weeks; the boys have really put their mind to VFL footy, (they) seem to be a little bit relaxed, really enjoying their training and working really well with each other.”

Maple is expecting a physical encounter where the young Dogs will have to match up against an experienced and well-credentialed Port Melbourne midfield outfit, including 150-game player Toby Pinwill and Jim ‘Frosty’ Miller medallist Daniel Connors who are both returning from injuries. 

“They’ve got a really exception midfield…big bodies, older men - we are relatively young,” Maple said, “I think they’ll come out and be fairly physical and test our young guys which is a great development experience for them…that’s what finals footy is about.

“We know that tempo goes up every time you go one step further in the finals…there’ll be a fair bit of heat early.”  

Footscray will welcome back Tom Campbell, Tom Young, Mark Austin and Jason Johannissen from AFL duties since their qualifying final two weeks ago.

The Campbell / Ayce Cordy ruck combination will be a vital advantage for the Bulldogs and Maple predicts they will share the load and spend a bit of time forward.

“We need their size and strength in and around the contest,” Maple said.

Although tomorrow’s match is a do or die affair for 2014, Maple is still very much focused on the future. 

“Our number one priority is our AFL side but it’s just fantastic that we’ve had so much support for our VFL boys.”