The Western Bulldogs will go into the 2017 season with the strongest list in the AFL according to the League’s official number cruncher, Champion Data.

Marcus Bontempelli, Matthew Boyd, Jake Stringer, Luke Dahlhaus, Mitch Wallis, and Bob Murphy have all been categorized as ‘elite', that is, players rated in the top 10% of their position, making the Dogs one of just four clubs to have six players in the top tier.

But it’s in the depth department where the Dogs are ahead of the pack.

Thirteen players are rated ‘above average’, the highest number in the AFL, and two more than their closest rival, Greater Western Sydney.

And of 19 players filling out the top two brackets, six did not play in the Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership side.

All are expected to be available for selection in round one, next season.

Elite players: Mitch Wallis, Marcus Bontempelli, Bob Murphy, Matthew Boyd, Jake Stringer, Luke Dahlhaus.

Above-average players: Tom Liberatore, Jason Johannisen, Easton Wood, Jack Macrae, Stewart Crameri, Dale Morris, Lin Jong, Tory Dickson, Liam Picken, Caleb Daniel, Marcus Adams, Clay Smith, Matthew Suckling.