WITH the Western Bulldogs preparing to play second fiddle in the ruck department, Adelaide's Sam Jacobs is embracing the idea that he'll prove a game breaker in Saturday's elimination final.

Jordan Roughead's injury further dilutes an already weak ruck department – the  Bulldogs are ranked 15th in the League for hit-outs this season and have only won that count five times.

None of the club's four ruckmen in Will Minson, Tom Campbell, Roughead or Ayce Cordy has managed to own the position, and at 202cm Jacobs would tower over 194cm Jack Redpath if he were again asked to contest the ruck as he did last weekend.

Jacobs is ranked third in the AFL for hit-outs this season, while Minson is the best-placed Bulldog at No. 27.

Bulldogs midfielder Mitch Wallis said his fellow on-ballers would try to shark Jacobs' taps as much as possible on Saturday and the star Crow told AFL.com.au he would be prepared.

"They've looked a few options this year – Minson, Campbell, Roughead and Cordy as well – so I'll definitely look to get my hand on it to impact the game," he said.

"They've only won the hit-out count five times this year; it's important for our mids and me to have that great connection and we'll definitely be training (for the opposition sharking my taps).

"The good thing is we got exposed to it against Geelong with (Nathan) Vardy and (Mark) Blicavs – I was able to get my hand to it but we weren't able to get the value that we wanted.

"It's up to your midfielders to watch the hand of the other ruckman, the way they set up at ground level might be a bit more defensive … but we'll leave that up to them."

Jacobs also said he would enter the game wary of the Bulldogs throwing a third man into ruck contests.

A third-man up worked well for the Bulldogs in round four, when six players registered hit-outs (including Lin Jong with four) in the 57-point win.

In contrast, the Crows had just three players record a hit-out (Jacobs was by far the game's dominant big-man with 43).

"I've seen them do a lot of third-man ups so that might affect something that we do as a team … I'll definitely do my due diligence and make sure I'm across what they're going to do," he said.

"But it's probably no different to previous weeks where I have that expectation of myself and the midfielders to get the job done."

Saturday will be Jacobs' fifth final, having played one at Carlton and three with the Crows in 2012.

The 27-year-old said advice from then assistant Blues coach Craig Bradley on the eve of his finals debut in 2010 encouraged him to confront the build-up to knockout matches.

Bradley featured in 24 finals throughout his incredible career and Jacobs noted he'd "probably played more finals than I have games".

"In my debut final Craig Bradley stuck with me and said, 'Don't go out there trying to block everything, actually try and embrace it and take it in because it is exciting'," he said.

"In terms of preparation I feel I prepare the same, but as a footy head I'm definitely excited by the prospect of playing finals .

"I like to enjoy the week for what it is."

The Crows will host an open training session at their West Lakes base on Friday morning, before flying to Melbourne in the afternoon.