THE WESTERN Bulldogs have been given permission to train at the Gabba on Friday in a boost to their preparations for the sudden-death final against Brisbane on Saturday night.

The Bulldogs had requested a daytime final so they could avoid being locked in their Brisbane hotel rooms all day Saturday.

While that was denied, coach Luke Beveridge said his team had had some small wins as they targeted a preliminary final berth against Port Adelaide.

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The Bulldogs will arrive from Tasmania early on Friday afternoon and head to the Gabba for a captain's run.

While confined to their hotel, players will be permitted to eat lunch together and also move between the two floors they will be located on.

"It's important, especially with a longer haul trip - it's going to take us between two and a half to three hours to get to Brisbane," Beveridge said on Thursday.

"To be able to stretch the legs and have a bit of a shuffle and maybe get the Sherrins out for 10 minutes.

"We've been afforded that in all locations we've been to all year so ticking that one off is critical."

Beveridge said that they wanted to play the "victor card" as they dealt with the ongoing challenges of being out of Victoria.

"You can play the victim card or you can play the victor card," Beveridge said.

"I think we've been able to stay positive and galvanise a little bit on the road as well. This is another opportunity."

Beveridge felt that with the expected heat in Brisbane, a night game probably suited his team, which overcame Essendon in the week one final in Launceston in cold and wet conditions.

"It's pretty warm in Brisbane and we haven't experienced too much heat in the climates we've been exposed to in recent times, so it makes sense for us to be playing at night as well," he said.

"It wasn't a Brisbane call, it was a collaborative call."

Beveridge was still finalising his team but he said ruckman Stefan Martin (groin) may not feature again this season while No.1 draft pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan wouldn't face the Lions.

He said that 19-year-old key forward's chances took a major hit with Josh Bruce's season-ending knee injury.

"'Marra' shows really promising form and we love what he did when he came into the team," Beveridge said.

"What he was fortunate to have during that time was a big guy next to him named Josh Bruce, who could buffer the load and take the first and second defender.

"The forward line functioned pretty well and (Josh) Schache did a tremendous job coming in and playing that role after such a long time so it's unlikely Marra will come in this week."