THE WESTERN Bulldogs will get their first glimpse of Barry Hall in full flight on Saturday when the burly forward lines up in an intra-club match at Whitten Oval.

Hall, 32, is expected to play at least a half of the game after overcoming post-season ankle problems.

"We've been doing a fair bit over the past few weeks and he's joined in with that but when you get the umpires in, it gets a little bit more fair dinkum," assistant coach Paul Williams told westernbulldogs.com.au on Thursday.

"It's going to be good to see how he moves out there."

Skipper Brad Johnson will be one of roughly seven players to miss the hit-out with the club keen to limit his workload ahead of the season proper.

He will be joined on the sidelines by fellow veteran Nathan Eagleton, who is recovering from knee surgery, and Will Minson, who is still troubled by a toe complaint.

Minson's absence means young gun Jordan Roughead will start in the centre against experienced ruckman Ben Hudson, who will play despite an injury scare at training last week.

Draftees Jason Tutt, Lukas Markovic and Shane Thorne will all be on display, as will rookie-listed players Brodie Moles, Matthew Panos, Patrick Rose and Andrew Hooper.

Hooper's involvement will be restricted by his continued recovery from a finger injury, while Sam Reid (groin), Stephen Tiller (groin), first-round selection Christian Howard (hip) and former basketballer Eddie Prato will miss altogether.

Jason Akermanis will play at least a half though young ruckman Ayce Cordy's game time will be limited in his return from a quad problem.

Robert Murphy and Dale Morris will line up after progressing from post-season injuries and Shaun Higgins has overcome the hamstring spasm suffered at training last Friday.

Williams said it was unlikely the scratch match would feature any experimental play.

"We're more about making sure the synergy of the groups are OK," he said.

"We're not going to play probables against possibles. It's going to be two even sides with senior players on both sides so everyone can have a really good hit-out."

Weather permitting, the match will start at 10am.