SATURDAY night will mark another milestone in the AFL’s push to take the code to western Sydney when the Sydney Swans take on the Western Bulldogs at Rouse Hill.

The NAB Challenge game at the newly completed Bruce Purser Reserve in the north-western suburb of Sydney will kick off at 7pm.

Swans midfielder Jude Bolton said the game was a good chance to build on the interest created by player visits to schools in the area.

“It’ll be good to take the footy out there and see the new stadium – I haven’t seen it but it’s been given the okay by the AFL and we’re looking forward to getting out there and playing,” he said.

“It’s definitely going to help the [code] out here, with the option of taking the game out there and bringing it to the crowds. Hopefully we get a good crowd.

“Hopefully we put on a good display so that people want to come back and see more of it during the year.”

While Bolton supported the push into western Sydney, he was less enthusiastic about the AFL’s trial of a countdown clock during the pre-season competition.

The game clock on stadium scoreboards have traditionally counted up, leaving spectators in the dark as to how much time was remaining in each quarter.

Bolton said it made little difference to the players, but he favoured the traditional clock when watching a neutral match.

“We generally get a bit of a gauge of what time [is left] in some of the pressure games; you quite often have a runner coming out and telling you,” he said.

“But I still think it’s pretty good [to have] a bit of mystery and not knowing what’s happening in the last five minutes.

“With the fans, I haven’t been watching enough of the pre-season to see exactly how they’ve taken it on, but I certainly enjoy a bit of mystery.”

Dream Team watch – Jude Bolton is rated a $378,600 midfielder in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.