NEW WESTERN Bulldogs skipper Matthew Boyd hopes the team will have "a hard edge" under his captaincy and be forthright with each other.

Speaking after training - just hours after being presented to the players and club staff as the Western Bulldogs' 32nd captain - Boyd said he won't be afraid to say what needs to be said to improve the team.

"Sometimes I say some things that may not go down that well with the group (but) we're an honest group and we need that honesty, so hopefully that's one of the things I can instill."

For a hard-nosed midfielder with a low profile, who arrived in the AFL via the rookie list, Boyd is beginning to tally a fair list of accomplishments.

The 28-year-old has finished in the top four of the club best and fairest in the past four seasons. He won the award in 2009 and was named All Australian.

Last season he finished sixth in the Brownlow medal with 20 votes, leading the club in the count (but finishing fourth in their best and fairest).

Now he is the club's captain and it's a club he is proud to lead. "This club's got a lot of heart," he said.

Coach Rodney Eade said Boyd's list of honours proved his consistency but it was the personal qualities he can bring to the role that lead to his appointment.

"It's just his influence on the rest of the group through the whole spectrum, from training to off the field. He can not only challenge but encourage others to help the team strive to be the best," Eade said.

Boyd is another rookie to join the captaincy ranks with both premiership captains Collingwood's Nick Maxwell and the Sydney Swans' Brett Kirk arriving at their club's via that route.

Boyd made his debut in round 7, 2003, at the age of 19. He cemented his spot in 2004, playing 19 games before reeling off 107 consecutive games between round 16, 2005, and round 5, 2010.

A broken hand forced him out for just two games before he returned to the fray in round 7.

Boyd worked hard to establish himself, having shown his talent as a junior with the Narre Warren Junior Football Club.

He played in a premiership there with current Tigers skipper Chris Newman and Fremantle's Adam McPhee before joining the Dandenong Stingrays and then working his way from the Frankston reserves in the VFL to the Bulldogs.

Eade said Boyd just needed someone to show confidence in him to flourish; once the coach did that the midfielder was knocking his door down to be selected.

Boyd's appointment creates a leadership quirk that six AFL captains of Victorian based clubs played at just three junior clubs (Cameron Ling and Nick Maxwell - St Joseph's Football Club, Chris Judd and Jobe Watson - East Sandringham Football Club and Chris Newman and Matthew Boyd - Narre Warren Football Club).

While admitting to being a tad anxious about his prospects during the week Boyd said not a lot would change under his captaincy when he addressed the players and staff.

He would expect to get as much support in the role as he gave to others.

"We want to empower guys to stand up and take the opportunity to develop their leadership as well," Boyd said.

The club's vice captains are Daniel Giansiracusa and Adam Cooney.

Renowned as a fanatical trainer, Boyd can be expected to lead by example. The advice he has received is to stay true to himself and he intends to follow that advice.

Humble, yet confident he has an opportunity to lead the team beyond the preliminary finals - the Bulldogs' lot in the past three years.

He said the team needed to play at a high intensity for the whole game if it was going to contend for the flag.

That flag remains his dream. It will be a big challenge but if he can be the man to break the premiership drought that stretches back to 1954, the kid from Narre Warren will become a club icon.

As for the coach, he is happy. Eade said Boyd fitted the typical mould of a Bulldogs skipper.

"We have a long, proud history of captains with a fantastic work rate," Eade said.