DESPITE seeming to suffer a NAB Cup premiership hangover last year, ruckman Ben Hudson says the Western Bulldogs won't be taking the upcoming competition lightly.
The Dogs beat St Kilda in the 2010 pre-season grand final, but struggled to hit top form in their opening home and away matches.
As a result, some tinkering has been done to their training load this time around.
"There are always changes from year to year but there's been no major overhaul," Hudson told afl.com.au.
"Billy Davoren (head of physical conditioning) is in his third year now, so he's been able to have a good system in place and we've pretty much followed that.
"I suppose now that Christmas is out of the way we can all see that the games are ahead of us.
"As the training load switches from just running around the oval to more footy-based stuff the boys get more excited, so the momentum is slowly building around the club."
Some Bulldogs fans might be expecting a low-key effort from their team in the NAB Cup this year.
But Hudson is adamant he and his teammates will be out to impress when they take on North Melbourne and Geelong at Skilled Stadium on February 20.
"You go into any game trying to win it," he said.
With the pool matches to consist of two 20-minute halves, Hudson is expecting them to be fast and furious contests.
"There's a bit of a novelty factor about it, I suppose," he said. "We'll be rotating the bench pretty hard and the games will be really quick.
"The teams have all got two or three months of training behind them, and they've got no injuries, so it's going to be flat out."
There will be a number of new faces in the Bulldogs line-up when the team runs out at Geelong.
Recruits Justin Sherman (Brisbane Lions), Patrick Veszpremi (Sydney Swans) and Nathan Djerrkura (Geelong) are all set to play for their new club.
"They've all fitted in really well and bonded with the boys, especially Patty, who has some serious ability as a DJ," Hudson said. "They've all bought a bit of speed and a bit of flair to the team.
"They'll all get a chance early on."
