In the lead up to the Grand Final, BackPageLead caught up with retiring Bulldogs skipper Brad Johnson to find out what the Grand Final experience means to him and whether the Bulldogs faithful will have anything to bark about next season.

Q. What's the highlight of Grand Final week for you?

A. Well, the last three years it's been a pretty disappointing week because we've lost in the Preliminary Final and not been able to go on so it's been a tough week in that regard but as the week goes on you do get caught up in the build up of the game and you just see so many people, like in Federation Square today enjoying the AFL experience that it's just fantastic.

Q. What's the first Grand Final that you can remember?

A. Probably Essendon winning in 1984 & 1985 are the first that I can really remember. My dad was an Essendon supporter and those games were replayed a fair bit in the house, so they're probably the two I first remember.

Q. What's your most memorable Grand Final experience?

A. 1993 was my first live Grand Final that I'd been to, when the Baby Bombers got up. We'd played the Under 18s earlier in the day and there was a real buzz about the place and we managed to hang around and watch the game, which was pretty exciting.

Q. What will you be doing for this year's Grand Final?

A. I'm doing a couple of things for Channel Seven this year so I'll be at the ground and hopefully be able to enjoy it.

Q. Who's going to win the Grand Final and who's going to win the Norm Smith Medal?

A. My tip is the Pies - just - and the Norm Smith will go to Alan Didak.

Q. 2010 was another nearly year for the Bulldogs. Do you have a message for Bulldogs supporters to keep them upbeat during another long off-season?

A. I can certainly tell all the Bulldogs supporters that the belief and strength within the playing group is still strong to take our club to the next level and that's half the battle won right there because they're going to train as hard as they ever have over the summer. They'll certainly be motivated to have an impact leading into season 2011 and without a doubt they'll push themselves right to the limit to be successful and if they get to this stage again hopefully they can go one stage further.

Q. Following your retirement, who do you think the new captain of the Bulldogs will be?

A. I think it'll be out of three or four guys. Daniel Giansiracusa and Matty Boyd are probably the two that will possibly fight it out from what I've seen over the last few years. Daniel Cross is right up there. And I'm not sure what Adam Cooney's thinking is about taking the captaincy over in the future so probably those first three and Coones.

Q. Do you have any advice for whoever succeeds you as skipper?

A. Not really, the guys that I've just mentioned have been able to take the club forward themselves anyway in the last couple of years so whoever steps in is certainly ready to take on the challenge, so I don't need to give too much advice.

Q. Following Shane Crawford's amazing Adelaide to Melbourne charity run, are you planning to do something similar in your retirement?

A. It's totally inspirational what Crawf was able to achieve. I think he managed nearly seventy kilometres a day for twelve days or something, which is just unbelievable. I think he's still asleep at the moment after that isn't he? I've got no plans to do something like that in the initial stages of my retirement but I'd have to seriously think about it if someone did come to me to try and raise some money for a fantastic cause like Shane did.