AAP | 15/09/09 | 0
Bulldogs captain Andrew Ryan says there's no danger of his side going into next weekend's NRL preliminary final against Parramatta or the Gold Coast underdone.
The last time the Blue and Whites had a week off during the finals was in 2006, when they suffered a second-half capitulation against Brisbane.
However, Ryan, who played in that game when the Bulldogs relinquished a 20-6 halftime lead to lose 37-20 to the eventual grand final winners, said there will be no danger of a repeat performance this year.
"We have a different squad now and it was a different time," Ryan said.
"We have a couple of niggles we have to rest so the week off will work in our favour.
"I am sure the coaching staff will not let us go in underdone, we have an opposed session later in the week against the NSW Cup team which will be a good gauge for us."
Coach Kevin Moore said the session, which will take place over the weekend, is largely for the benefit of returning halfback Brett Kimmorley, but also to ensure his players do not lose their intensity at the stage of the season where they need it most.
"The boys will have a couple of days off then train like we are going to play this weekend, where we will have a closed session which will be good with Noddy coming back," he said.
"It will be an opposed session but there won't be a lot of contact. It will be defence running at us so we can work on a few things we need to improve on."
Moore also said one of his biggest tests was ensuring his players do not pick up any injuries during these sessions.
"It's a fine line, you need to take risks from time to time, physical contact is important at this time of year, you just have got to be a bit smart about it."
Tuesday's light session was the first time Kimmorley had trained since fracturing his cheekbone against the Warriors in round 25 and Moore said his key playmaker was in good shape.
"He has had a couple of cardio sessions leading up to today where he was running around kicking the footy and taking part in some game situations. He will be 100 per cent right for our next game," Moore said.
The coach also played down the absence of Luke Patten, Michael Ennis, Jamal Idris and Ben Roberts, who all received treatment.
"It was all precautionary, a couple of those blokes traditionally don't do a lot of running early in the week," Moore said.
"Jamal has a very slight grade one medial ligament strain.
"But the fact we don't have to play this week means we can handle those blokes professionally and make sure they are running by the end of the week when do some of our more serious footy stuff."
I am sure the coaching staff will not let us go in underdone.
Andrew Ryan, Bulldogs skipper
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