THE WESTERN Bulldogs aren't buying into any negativity about AFLX, with the club viewing the new competition as a helpful conditioning tool for its younger players.
Like many other clubs, the Dogs have selected a youthful squad for the unique format, with a total of only 65 games of senior experience on display in Saturday's hit-outs in Sydney against the Swans and Brisbane.
They will unveil all three of the players they took in November's NAB AFL Draft, with first-round picks Aaron Naughton and Ed Richards and late selection Callum Porter all part of a side captained by Jack Redpath, who has only played 34 games in seven seasons at Whitten Oval.
Development manager Rohan Smith will make his debut as a senior coach, and the Bulldog great is enthusiastic about the opportunities for everyone involved in a series he believes has a future.
"We wanted to use (the competition) as a little bit of a development style, and we thought of it as learning for first- and second-year players in our squad," Smith said on Friday.
"We wanted to look at it as a positive, (and) we wanted to see our future stars playing. Hopefully some of these kids play 200-plus games for our footy club.
"It's a little bit of an unknown, the game style, but looking it, it's going to be exciting, and if you speak to the kids that are going to play, they're all excited.
"We wanted to give them a little bit of exposure, travelling, playing on TV, (senior) opposition and in front of a good crowd.
"I'm excited to look after my own team for the first time.
"We think of it as a positive, not a negative."
A defensive playmaker in 300 games in the red, white and blue, Smith says he'll employ an offensive game style for the abbreviated form of the game.
Senior coach Luke Beveridge has given his former teammate free rein for the competition, and Smith is looking forward to the challenge.
"Bevo has been really good, he's been a little bit relaxed and said this is my little baby and I can do whatever I want with it, so I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," he said.
"We're going to have an attacking style of play, but I think AFLX lends itself to the defensive side of the game as well.
"If (the players) can correlate that (balance) from the AFLX into their AFL game, it's going help them develop a little bit quicker."
And with Smith getting a taste for the coaches' box, the 44-year-old revealed he has ambitions to take charge of his own side on a full-time basis.
Smith spent time as the club's backline coach in recent years before transitioning into the development manager role at the start of 2017.
"We'll see how we go after the weekend (but) I'd love to coach my own team, but it's not something on the radar at the moment," he said.
"I just want to do my (regular) job properly at this point in time and see how we go."
