The Western Bulldogs are fuming over a report that three of their AFL premiership heroes were potential trades after last season.
Coach Luke Beveridge vehemently denied that Luke Dahlhaus, Tom Liberatore and Clay Smith were any chance to join Jake Stringer in leaving the club, saying the speculation was a lie.
Fox Footy claimed on Tuesday night that Dahlhaus was floated as trade bait, at the same time that Stringer left the Bulldogs late last year and went to Essendon.
The same report said rival clubs regarded Smith and Liberatore as players who were also available under reasonable terms.
"Think about the hypothetical, your workplace ... you actually read on the public domain that your organisation is shopping you around ... and you don't know about it," Beveridge said.
"You like your workplace and you actually enjoy where you work - how would you feel about that?
"So I've spent half a day reassuring our players that it didn't happen.
"It's really disappointing - here we are heading into round one and there's a lie online about us as a club, who love our players to death, offering them up for trade, when it didn't happen."
Beveridge was asked if the report had upset his players ahead of Sunday's season opener against GWS.
"They're not, because it's a complete surprise to them and I don't think for a minute, they thought it was true, which is important," he replied.
"But for it to be floated and for it not to be true is unethical and it's disappointing."
Liberatore and Dahlhaus are out of contract at the end of the year.
"This part is reality ... they'll have strong market value," Beveridge said.
The Bulldogs' coach said they would start captain Easton Wood in attack against the Giants, continuing their pre-season experiment.
Wood has played his entire AFL career in defence and the Bulldogs have lost backmen Dale Morris and Marcus Adams to injury for extended periods.
"He's a formidable opponent, whether he's back or forward - it's the early stages of a journey for all of us," Beveridge said.
"It seems like it's bold but, for us, it's a step down from bold."
Beveridge added almost half of Sunday's team would be different to their 2016 premiership combination.
He confirmed Aaron Naughton, recruited at pick No.9 in last year's draft, would make his AFL debut against GWS.
Beveridge said Brisbane recruit Josh Schache was on the edge of selection, while fellow key forward Tom Boyd could be a few weeks away.
But the Bulldogs are unsure when Liam Picken will return.
They announced on Tuesday that Picken was out of action indefinitely because of concussion.
Beveridge was asked if there were concerns that Picken might not play again.
"If you say 'is there a chance?'. Maybe, there might be," he replied.
"That chance is really minimal - I imagine he'd play again."
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