THE WESTERN Bulldogs' injury woes this year have been well documented, with the club's defence bearing the brunt of the bad luck.
The misfortune has forced coach Luke Beveridge to deploy an astounding 30 different players through the backline, with key components Robert Murphy, Jason Johannisen, Matt Suckling and Marcus Adams all missing large chucks of the season.
The only constant down back has been Shane Biggs, with the playmaker doing remarkably well to avoid a very busy medical room and play every game for the finals-bound Bulldogs.
He joins Marcus Bontempelli, Jordan Roughead, Liam Picken and Lachie Hunter as the few Dogs to play all 19 games this season.
"I don't know if I'm Mr Indestructible," Biggs joked.
"It's just been good to play without injury and get some consistency going for the first time in my career.
"There's been a bit of carnage happening around us and you've got to switch back on when something happens.
'We really feel for the boys, but you've just got to keep going."
Arriving from the Sydney Swans at the end of 2014 after just six games in two seasons, the 25-year-old concedes he took a while to "find his feet" at Whitten Oval, but that newfound steadiness has seen him play 27 games on the trot.
The continuity has coincided with Biggs becoming an integral cog in the Bulldog machine, with daring runs and smart decision-making standout attributes in one of the AFL's stingiest defences.
"I think when Bob Murphy when down some of us newer blokes tried to take on a bit more responsibility, and that has really heaped us as a backline to the point we're playing as good a footy as we have all year," Biggs said.
"As a defensive group we know what each other is going to do, which way we're going to turn and what each other is good at.
"That run and gun handball game out of the backline does set up the game if you can do it successfully."
The Dogs are one of the game's best exponents of audacious ball movement from defence, and Biggs heaps praise on Rohan Smith – the club's backline coach and a trailblazer for the defensive playmaker.
"There's a little bit of backman love when we've got our have our seperate meetings with Rohan Smith," Biggs said.
"He was a pioneer for the running defenders and he definitely lets us know when we have an off day because he reckons he'd go all right in today's game.
'He keeps us on our toes and he's got a lot of knowledge to pass on to us defenders.
"I'm really close with Rohan, he's been a real big influence on my career."
With the finals just weeks away, Biggs sees Friday night's game against Collingwood in front of big Etihad Stadium crowd as the closet the Dogs will get to the high-pressure environment they will encounter in September.
And while he admits last year's seven-point elimination final loss to Adelaide haunted him for a while, Biggs believes the club has learned a lot from the experience and the disappointment will hold them in good stead.
"There was definitely a time last year where I thought about the loss a lot and when we're playing a big game," Biggs said.
"It was a big game on a big stage at the MCG, but did well, we learned a lot and we definitely want to go further this year.
"There are definitely no regrets."
