Western Bulldogs veteran Daniel Giansiracusa says the AFL club are preparing to face a totally different Collingwood than they have previously.

The Bulldogs and Magpies will meet on Sunday for the first time since round six last season, when Collingwood ground out a hard-fought 21-point win.

But after the Bulldogs’ opposition analysis meeting on Thursday, Giansiracusa acknowledged there was little that could be drawn from previous encounters.

At least 12 of Collingwood’s 22 are likely to have changed from last season’s match, including the injury absences of the likes of Dayne Beams, Alex Fasolo and Alan Toovey and list changes, with players such as Chris Dawes and Sharrod Wellingham now at rival clubs.

In their place are youngsters such as Ben Kennedy, Kyle Martin, Josh Thomas, Marley Williams and Paul Seedsman, none of whom the Bulldogs have previously faced.

“They’ve totally changed,” Giansiracusa told reporters on Thursday.

“We did the opposition analysis just then and there’s a lot of guys they’ve got out through injury and things like that.

“So we’ll definitely be researching and making sure we’re fully aware of those younger players and making sure we’re right on the ball ready to go on Sunday.”

Giansiracusa said while Collingwood would enter the match confident after big wins over Brisbane and Melbourne, the Bulldogs were also buoyant after victories over St Kilda and Port Adelaide in their past two games.

They’re also physically and mentally refreshed after their mid-season bye.

Giansiracusa said it was possible the Dogs’ momentum and intensity could be affected, but he expected the break to help them.

“Time will tell, I suppose, on Sunday twilight when we go out there,” he said.

“But I’m sure we’ll get a pretty hard session out there today in the main session.

“That will keep the intensity up, we’ll do a bit of physical stuff and make sure that we are ready.

“I think you’d see it more as a positive, freshen up and be ready to go and go at Collingwood really hard.”