Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge isn't sure which is preferable heading into Saturday's AFL preliminary final against Greater Western Sydney: rest or momentum.
The Bulldogs have plenty of the latter after smashing West Coast on the road and emphatically ending Hawthorn's hopes of claiming a fourth straight premiership.
The former? Not so much, at least compared to the Giants, who have only played one game in the last four weeks.
Either way, Beveridge insists there'll be no excuses for both sides when they take the field at Spotless Stadium.
"I think maybe it's a combination of so many things - the maturity of your group, the need for games under your belt, how sore your players have been, all those sorts of things," he said.
"We've got a little bit of continuity because we've only had the one break but time will tell.
"I'm sure the opposition have trained in a fashion that's prepared them well for Saturday so there's just no excuses either side of it."
One thing the Bulldogs certainly won't be lacking is motivation.
The Dogs last reached a grand final in 1961 when they were defeated by the Hawks, with their only flag achieved in 1954.
It's been a long time between drinks at Whitten Oval, and Beveridge says the Bulldogs haven't shied away from acknowledging their opportunity to make history.
"It's there, and I think that's the exciting thing," he said.
"We can be the ones that change it. Whether that's added incentive, I'm not sure. I suppose it probably is.
"We'd love to be in that spot. This is a chance to win through to a grand final and that's the way our players are treating it.
"Some of our players are talking about it openly, and we can only ride with them on that."
