A GROUP of Western Bulldogs' big men have dipped into their own pockets to help pay for a gruelling altitude camp next month.

Twelve mostly key position players will complete two weeks of altitude training in Denver, Colorado to help close the fitness gap on rivals from November 6.



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Joining the likes of Collingwood and Carlton in the altitude race, the Dogs will climb and hike up mountains in freezing conditions amid regular skills and weight lifting sessions at up to 3000m above sea level.

The club confirmed it had AFL approval for more experienced players to sacrifice some prescribed holiday time to join the tour, provided they make up the leave later in the summer.

Development coach Ashley Hansen said the club’s younger players drove the concept, mainly aimed at developing the aerobic capacity of its key forwards and defenders.

“To put a sports scientist hat on, there’s no other game in the world where you are asking 100kg athletes to cover 14kms in a game,” Hansen said.

“To develop that (running endurance) part of your physiology is really tough, especially when you are putting on size and strength like we are with the guys too, and then also make them quick and agile.

“That (fitness) is only one aspect of your performance, but by taking them away and living at altitude for 14 nights, we think they can really benefit from that.”

It is planned the players will regularly utilise the altitude facilities at Victoria University over the course of the year to help maximise their gains.

Hansen said the club would derive other non-physical benefits from training in the extreme conditions, such as enhancing players’ leadership qualities throughout one of the AFL’s youngest playing squads.

“It’s going to put them in a challenging environment,” he said.

“It’s going to be cold, we’ll be up the side of a mountain, it’s going to be tough, so it’s also developing the mental toughness as well.

“They’ll build a relationship together that will hopefully be pretty strong for the coming years when we start to have success.”

The Dogs enjoyed a strong finish to the season, winning four of their last six games.

But Hansen said coach Brendan McCartney had continually reminded the group they still had to bridge a gap on the finals sides, having finished 15th on the ladder.

“We can’t be under any illusions we have got a lot of work to do,” Hansen said.

“We want the guys to have the belief they are good enough to perform at the level, but that’s not good enough.

“They’ve still got to buy into program, push each other, get better.

“We’ve got to jump up a few rungs on the ladder to play finals.’’