When it comes to dishing out advice down at the kennel it’s not just the obvious, more experienced, voices that you hear according to 14-year veteran Matthew Boyd.

The Dogs jumped from 14^th place on the AFL ladder to 6^th and an elimination finals appearance last season, and according to the former Club captain, it’s not just the veterans who’ve been reminding their teammates that there’s still work to do before the Club can take the next step.

“We give each other advice on what’s required and the standards we need to set to become a good side,” Boyd told westernbulldogs.com.au.

“We want to go from a nice solid foundation that we laid last year and we want to improve. 

"And if you don’t go forward as a footy club, then there’s seventeen other teams that will go past you."

With 20-year old Marcus Bontempelli and 26-year old Easton Wood joining Boyd, skipper Bob Murphy and Dale Morris in the leadership group in 2016, Boyd said it was important to have the younger voices driving the Club forward.

“We give each other constant reminders about the standards, what’s required from a professionalism point of view, and just doing all of those little things to make sure you’re right to train and perform at your best.”

Boyd will turn 34 during the season, but the 258-gamer shows no signs of slowing down, his body feeling good as ever, even as his approach to pre-season has evolved over the years.

“I’m not getting any younger, so you’ve got to take care of your body and listen to the signals it’s giving you, he said.

“But at the moment I feel really good, I feel like I’m running really well and moving around the ground really well, so I look forward to taking that into the season.”

As for where he plays, Boyd expects to spend time across the half-back line as he did last year, but acknowledges how important versatility is to the way Luke Beveridge wants his side to play football.

“Plan A might be through the half back line but as we saw last year we had players playing everywhere, so I’m looking forward to doing whatever the coaches throw at me.

“It’s something we’ve really focused on and made a point to get across all different lines and be able to fit in to different roles.”