Revisit the draft years that brought in the current crop of Bulldogs players, continuing with the year 2001.

MATTHEW BOYD

One of several high profile rookie recruits for the Bulldogs, Matthew Boyd was taken at pick number 23 in the 2001 AFL Rookie Draft.

At 19, Boyd was recruited from VFL club Frankston after initially missing out on being drafted out of the TAC Cup, where he represented the Dandenong Stingrays in the junior ranks.

The tenacious midfielder made his debut in round seven 2003 against Fremantle, and has gone on to play 258 games – reaching his 250-game milestone in 2015.

Boyd is no doubt the Bulldogs' biggest success story from the rookie list, sitting fourth on the AFL all-time list for games played by a rookie-listed player.

The 33-year-old has been named All-Australian twice, in 2009 and 2011, was the Club’s captain for three years from 2011 to 2013 and a Charles Sutton medallist in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

Alongside former Bulldog and recently-retired Hawk Brian Lake, Boyd was the only Bulldogs player from the 2001 draft to reach over 200 games.

2001 recruits

National Draft

Pick 10: Sam Power (123 games)

Pick 42: Kieran McGuinness (26)

Pick 57: Brent Colbert

Pick 71: Brian Lake (251)

Pick 83: Aaron James (1)

Rookie draft

Pick 7: Nick Greenwood

Pick 23: Matthew Boyd (258)

Pre-season draft

Pick 3: Nathan Saunders (10)