Hazem El Masri will have to overcome more than just Eels whiz kid Krisnan Inu in Saturday night's finals showdown at Telstra Stadium - the Bulldogs winger plans to abstain from eating or drinking during daylight hours in observance of Ramadan.

El Masri, one of Australia's best known Muslim sports stars, is due to begin fasting during the holy month that begins tomorrow and cannot even swallow a mouthful of water while the sun is up.

Since beginning his illustrious career with the Bulldogs in 1996, El Masri has balanced football with his religious beliefs but has never had to fast during a finals series before. As a general rule during Ramadan, Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink between 4.40am-6.15pm.

With the elimination clash against the Eels scheduled to kick off at 7.45pm on Saturday night, El Masri is expected to eat a small meal before the match and will drink as much water as necessary to hydrate himself. But the big test will come if the Bulldogs win, as they will then have to travel to Melbourne to play the Storm at 4pm on Sunday week.

Training may also be a problem, and Bulldogs doctor Hugh Hazard said El Masri would be encouraged to get out of the sun whenever possible.

"It's mainly a hydration issue, and we'll just have to make sure he gets as much water as he can drink before sun-up and at night," Hazard said. "Hazem is very strict about it. There was one time during a pre-season when he was younger and it was about 30 degrees, he was a bit of a mess."

In the past during Ramadan, El Masri has been known to lose several kilos during the course of a day's training - needing to drink three litres of water overnight to rehydrate.

In 1997, Bulldogs officials were concerned when he dropped a heavy barbell on his chest while bench-pressing during a weights session and he has reportedly come close to fainting at training on occasions.

"He will be OK. He's been doing it for quite a while now," Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes said. "If he can do it through pre-season training, he can do it any time. It won't affect him. He's allowed to eat when the sun's come down and before it comes up.

"He's been coping with it for quite a few seasons. It changes every year. There have been times when we've been in the middle of full-on off-season training and he still manages to get through that OK. He'll be right."

El Masri has this week declined all media interviews to focus on preparing for Saturday night's match but his close friend and fellow Muslim Anthony Mundine said the goalkicking ace, who last weekend surpassed Daryl Halligan as the third highest pointscorer in premiership history, would find it difficult.

"It will be pretty hard," the former NRL star turned world champion boxer said. "He will just have to nutrition (sic) his body during the night and hydrate himself whenever he can. But God will give him the strength and the power he needs."

Another Muslim boxer Nedal Hussein, who has prepared for a fight during Ramadan, said he expects El Masri to be targeted by the Eels.

"I feel sorry for the kid. If the opposition are smart, they will target him," Hussein said. "But it's different to boxing. Hazem's an 80-minute player but he is not involved for 80 minutes. In the ring there is no place to hide, you are on your own."

Another boxer who has experienced the pain of training while fasting, Nader Hamdan, said his friend El Masri would cope better playing at night rather than during daylight hours.

"It is going to hurt [El Masri], it is tough," Hamdan said. "But he will handle it because he is a professional. I have sparred 12 rounds in the summer heat and I couldn't drink water. The worst part was the fight got cancelled.

"Once he gets out on the field, he won't be thinking about that."