The Western Bulldogs aren't satisfied with breaking their 62-year premiership drought and would be buoyed by greater competition for spots, veteran Matthew Boyd has said.

"With professional athletes, footballers, it's never enough and you're never satisfied," Boyd told reporters on Monday morning before the Dogs' first day of pre-season training with their full squad at Whitten Oval.

"We definitely have that mindset that we want to go again, we want to do it better and we'll be working our butts off to make that happen."

Boyd said he didn’t expect the players would feel extra pressure going into the new season, given they were underdogs throughout the entire 2016 finals series.

"We haven't really felt pressure throughout the journey that we've been on. That's the thing about this group – we'll just take it in our stride and we'll get to work," he said.

"We'll look at ways we can improve and things we didn't quite do the way we would've liked to do it. It's not pressure, it's just expectation."

The 2016 All Australian defender was enthused by the club's improved depth, given it would eventually regain skipper Bob Murphy, midfielders Matt Suckling, Mitch Wallis and Lin Jong, defender Marcus Adams and forward Jack Redpath, while it would be boosted by the return of Stewart Crameri, and it had also snared former Collingwood veteran Travis Cloke.

"It adds competition for spots and raises the standards of training and of performance. It's a good position for the coaches to be in and us as a footy club," he said.

Boyd was especially excited by Murphy's return.

"He's obviously a great leader of our footy club and we'd love to go again for him," he said.

"But it's not just about Bob, and he'd say that himself – it's about this footy club.

"We're all excited to get Bob back, and we're excited to get Jack Redpath back, and Mitch Wallis back, and Josh Prudden and all those boys who had long-term injuries."

As for himself, Boyd, 34, was feeling fresh after an off-season without any surgery.

"I feel pretty good for an old fella," he said.

Boyd, who will play on for a 15th season, said a premiership would have been a perfect way to retire, but he was still keen to help the young group.

"I want to try to continue that journey as long as I possibly can. I'm just going to enjoy the time that I have. We have a very finite time in footy and you've got to try to make the most of those opportunities," he said.

"I feel like I've been in bonus time for a couple of years. I'm very lucky and blessed to have been a part of our first premiership in 62 years. But that's last year and now we're looking into 2017.

"You don't get a huge amount of time to sit and dwell on those things. We enjoyed it but we're going to move on."