Western Bulldogs Senior Coach Brendan McCartney says the emerging crop of ball carriers will be a valuable long term asset for the Club.

The Bulldogs’ effectiveness going inside 50 has been flagged as an area for improvement this season and McCartney said blooding draftees including Jackson Macrae, Nathan Hrovat and Lachie Hunter will help address this area.

McCartney said the Dogs are putting drills in place to hone and fast track the his young charges' decision making skills, giving them confidence to  hit targets and move the ball forward to the advantage of their teammates.

“There’s no doubt that your really mature, experienced players look long and then scan back, they don’t look short and then take the first one,” McCartney said.

“That’s what the good ball users do, you talk to any elite kick and elite decision maker then they will always give you the same answer, they tend to look long and then look short after that.

“We probably hit the first one rather than getting the one over the back a little bit on Saturday.

“There’s some good young ball carriers and running players that we are introducing into our team that we think will be pretty good at that in time.”

Composure and precision ball use moving into attack would also assist the weekly task of the developing Bulldogs tall forwards.

“We know we have young forwards here that are carrying a lot of responsibility,” McCartney said.

“We will get a dividend out of that in time but they probably could do with a little bit of help and they could do with some better supply.

Recruiting a mature key forward target in the post-season is an option McCartney hasn't ruled out.

“You need the right type of player, the right type of person that fits what we are doing and you need all the people who have the ball in front of him, in front of those guys to kick it to the right spots and kick it well.”