Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English is ready to enter the next phase of his career after the ruckman's "dominant" performance in the Dogs' win over Sydney on Thursday night, according to coach Luke Beveridge. 

English was best afield against the Swans with 24 disposals, eight marks, eight clearances, 28 hitouts and a game-high 12 score involvements in the Bulldogs' first win of the season.

"He's had some games where he's had some tremendous influence but I thought he was dominant tonight and that's important for him and us," Beveridge said post-game. 

"As I said in the pre-match presser, he's searching for his presence around the source and he gave us stability. He won the hitout count which is terrific for him and for us. He had a big influence on the game." 

Beveridge said the out-of-contract 24-year-old's presence throughout the game was an important factor in the victory against the previously unbeaten Swans and that the performance showed English was ready to take his game to the next level.

"We've got faith and trust that Tim's emerging and evolving as a player. He's still learning a little bit even though he's heading towards the mid-20s," he said.

"There's some influential ruckmen in the game and not all of them play the turnover game that well, they don't all use the ball that well, they're not as highly skilled as him so the more he can be dour and physical – and he got a lot of clearances off his own bat tonight – the more it's going to help us.

"We've yearned for that over a period of time. 

"He's got this desire to be a ruckman and not necessarily a forward so we've got to continually work with him on that. Week to week we'll process it and analyse it but it was a really good night for Tim." 

The Dogs will lose defender Zaine Cordy to concussion next week but expect Marcus Bontempelli to be fine after his shoulder knock through the game.