The Dragons’ tall forwards have struggled to have an impact in the second half of the season and Fitzpatrick is weighing up the use of a small forward line in a bid to unsettle Golden Square’s defensive unit.

Big men Tom Calvert, Matt Gray and Ryan Haythorpe were all named on an extended interchange bench for the Dragons on Thursday night.

“We haven’t decided yet as to whether we go with extra height or more run,’’ Fitzpatrick said on Friday.

“It gives us some flexibility in how we want to match up with them.

“Golden Square’s back half has been their consistent strength all season, probably only playing second fiddle to their midfield.”

Bendigo Pioneers key position player Braidon Blake was seen as a potenital forward prospect for the Dragons, but he was ruled out of the game because of illness.

The Dragons only kicked seven goals in their 14-goal loss to Golden Square a fortnight ago.

“We’ve revisited that game to get an understanding of what bought it all about,’’ Fitzpatrick said.

“We have an awareness of it, but it’s not something we’ve heavily focused on.”

Sandhurst bounced back from that defeat with a confidence-boosting win over Eaglehawk last Saturday.

The most pleasing sign out of last week for the Dragons was the form of ruckman Tim Martin.

The big man spent 90 per cent of the game in the ruck where his centre square work and ability to sit a kick behind the play to help his defenders was a feature.

After an interrupted year, the two-time Michelsen Medal winner looks close to peak form at the pointy end of the season.

“Tim was back to something like what we’ve become accustomed to in the past couple of years,’’ Fitzpatrick said.

“I’m confident he’ll have more influence on this game than what he did against Square a couple of weeks ago.”

Golden Square enters the qualifying final on an eight-game winning streak.

Che Walls aside, the Bulldogs have basically their best 22 available, with the inclusion of Bendigo Pioneers duo Jayden Burke and Isaac Miller adding some depth and class to Square’s key position and running stocks.

Burke, who played in the VFL with Geelong last weekend, is likely to play deep forward for Square. The athletic big man showed plenty for the Bulldogs in last year’s finals series. Miller could play off half-back or on a wing where he could come up against Pioneers team-mate Lachlan Tardrew.

Tardrew, the Pioneers club champion, is straight back into the Sandhurst line-up.

“Lachy could have a run-with role through the middle or play across half-back,’’ Fitzpatrick said. “He’s had a very good year with the Pioneers and he’s proven at this level.”

Saturday night’s game starts at 6pm.