PROMISING key forward Liam Jones has been one of the Western Bulldogs' pre-season bolters and is the most likely successor to Barry Hall as the club's focal point in attack, ruckman Will Minson says.

The composition of the Bulldogs' forward line is one of the major issues for new coach Brendan McCartney, but Minson is confident the soon-to-be 21-year-old Jones - who in two seasons has kicked 25.12 in 25 games - is capable of a major contribution.

Asked what the Bulldogs needed to go to the next level, Minson referenced Geelong forward Tom Hawkins' breakthrough performance in last year's Grand Final.

"If you see what the 'Tomahawk' (Hawkins) did in last year's Grand Final you’d say (we need) contested marks and a few goals," he said.

Minson believes Jones - at 197cm and 98kg - can provide just that.

"We've all been pleasantly surprised with how Liam Jones has been training," Minson told Nine News during a visit to Swan Hill Hospital while on the Dogs' Community Camp.

"He's been doing some brilliant things … and we're looking forward to seeing him perform at the elite level again.

"He played some great games last year and he'll be better for having another pre-season under his belt, and (he is) fitter and stronger.

"I think he'll be a really exciting player for us this year."

Minson said the Dogs had a range of potential forward options.

"It doesn’t have to be Liam Jones; it can be (Luke) Dahlhaus with his great speed - we saw him kick some exciting goals last year," he said.

"And 'Gia' (Daniel Giansiracusa) is always a great option up forward. We've got a lot of good goalkickers.

"I think we'll have a really exciting choice of forwards to pick from. In previous years we've done well without a main target. Barry was a wonderful forward for our footy club … and now we'll go back to looking at multiple options in the forward line.

"We've got a lot of young forwards that are training really well - and even playing really well at VFL level last year - that we're looking forward to getting into the side.

"Having a good mix of players sometimes is harder to defend against than just the one (key) forward."

Minson is entering his 10th season with the Bulldogs and will become the club's No. 1 ruckman following the departure of veteran Ben Hudson.

The 115-gamer will be supported by youngsters like Jordan Roughead and Ayce Cordy - who have played just 19 games between them - but rejects the notion he will need to adopt a greater leadership role.

"That hasn’t changed, how I've 'led' so to speak," he said.

"You always seek to improve, and you always seek to become a better leader, but it's nothing that I've really sort of set about to say, 'This needs to be different' or anything like that.

"I've been pretty consistent in how I've gone about my leadership style."

The Bulldogs forward and ruck divisions will be among the fascinating sub-plots during Saturday's intra-club practice match at Whitten Oval, which will kick off at 9.30am.

The Dogs open their NAB Cup campaign at 7.15pm on the following Saturday night (February 18) when they take on Greater Western Sydney and Collingwood at Sydney's Blacktown International Sports Park.

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