THE WESTERN Bulldogs' ruck department, already missing injured premiership big man Jordan Roughead, has taken another hit after back-up ruckman Tom Campbell hurt an ankle at training on Saturday afternoon.
With Roughead to miss the opening rounds with a serious hamstring injury, Campbell is seen as a key part of the contingency plan for the reigning premier.
Now there are fears Campbell might join Roughead on the sidelines after limping from the field during full-scale match simulation at Whitten Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Campbell's ankle was then strapped with ice and he hobbled into the rooms.
However, teammate Jack Macrae later told reporters it was only a minor problem.
"I think he's all right. I think it was just a little roll of the ankle and I think it was just precautionary," Macrae said.
"It's unfortunate to lose 'Rough' (Roughead), but last year boys stepped up whenever someone went down, and that's just another great strength of this group.
"I'm sure Tom Boyd and Tom Campbell and other boys will step up throughout the year."
Macrae said the Dogs, as a unit, must step up in their second JLT Community Series game against the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night, following their narrow loss to Melbourne at Whitten Oval.
"We were pretty disappointed (in) our effort and intensity against Melbourne, so it was good to fine-tune a few things (in match simulation) and prepare for next week," the midfielder said.
"Even though we won the premiership last year, there's so many areas that we can improve on still, which is so exciting for the group.
"We were just all down across the board, and it pretty much showed in our performance and the result.
"I think everyone knew that wasn't our normal output."
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge also spoke to the masses on the club's fan day, and expressed his hunger for sustained success.
"It's time for us to be totally embroiled in 2017. Last year's been and gone," Beveridge said.
"We love the fact that our fans can enjoy (the premiership) for a long, long time and watch the DVD as many times as they want to and still celebrate that, but we need to firmly focus on this year.
"We feel like we've trained in a fashion that's prepared us pretty well. We're looking to improve our performances over the next couple of pre-season games and go into the first game against Collingwood with a lot of momentum."
Dogs skipper Bob Murphy told fans he expected a "rollercoaster" season in his comeback from a knee reconstruction that kept him out of the premiership team.
Of his pre-season return against Melbourne, Murphy said: "It was a little bit like making a pancake: you never get the first one perfect … It was nice to get it out the way, but it was just nice to be out amongst our boys and get the season started."
