WESTERN BULLDOGS ruckman Ben Hudson and forward Mitch Hahn have both announced they will retire at the end of the season  with the former telling the club of his intentions before a training session at Whitten Oval.

Hudson will play his farewell match in round 24 against Fremantle.

Caretaker coach Paul Williams will persist with young ruck combination Ayce Cordy and Jordan Roughead this Saturday against Hawthorn but will bring Hudson in for his last AFL appearance a week later.

"That's a guarantee," Williams said of Hudson gaining a recall for the final round's clash at Etihad Stadium.

"We were very happy with both those young guys, Roughead and Ayce, and it's a really great opportunity for them to come up against a side that's a bona fide contender for the flag this year."

Hudson, 32, who began his AFL career with Adelaide, has played 142 senior matches after making his debut in 2004.

He joined the Bulldogs in 2008 after 55 matches with the Crows and had his best season in 2010, finishing sixth in the best and fairest and winning the inaugural Brad Johnson Award for best team player.

The former Crow has played 16 matches this season but was dropped for last week's clash with Port Adelaide.

Williams said Hudson addressed the players on Wednesday morning after coming to the conclusion he didn't want to enter a ninth season.

"It was to and fro with him a fair bit but I suppose, and I know myself, once you've mentally decided, there's no changing anyone's mind," he said.

"Once you've decided that's it, it's almost like a circuit has been broken and hopefully we have a really good send-off game for him because he's been enormous for this football club for a long period of time."

Hahn was drafted by the Dogs with selection No.37 in the 1999 National Draft - a pick that was traded by Richmond for Leon Cameron - and then again with pick No.70 in the 2011 NAB AFL Rookie Draft last December after being delisted.

The 30-year-old played 181 senior games, and this year, made 13 appearances for Williamstown and kicked 34 goals, with his best performance a six-goal effort against Werribee at the start of April.

He has spent the season combining playing and coaching roles with the Seagulls, with a focus on developing the young forwards, and did part-time personal training work after taking a pay cut to join the rookie list and keep alive his chance of playing for the Bulldogs.

It didn't come, with Ed Barlow upgraded as the nominated rookie mid-season and Luke Dahlhaus earning promotion when Tom Hill was injured and then holding it when Brodie Moles was booked in for season-ending shoulder surgery. 

"Mitch was always there to fill that void because we thought it would be too much of a load for young [Liam] Jones and [Jarrad] Grant to be able to do that if Barry did get injured," Williams said.

"Unfortunately Mitch got injured at the same time, and that was his window of opportunity to get back in and it just didn't pan out that way.

"We could not fault him at all this year, with his morale and effort around the football club.

"The young guys have really enjoyed his leadership down at Williamstown, and he wants to stay in footy, so he'll stay in the game somehow."

The Bulldogs also announced the re-signing of eight players on Wednesday: Easton Wood, Liam Picken, Tom Williams, Jarrad Grant, Jayden Schofield, Jason Tutt and father-son recruits Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis.

"It's a really positive step by the club," Williams said.

"It shows the players are really supportive of the direction the club's going, and a really good story."

Callan Ward, who has been courted by Greater Western Sydney, was a notable omission from the raft of re-signings, but Williams said the club was still hopeful it could retain the emerging midfielder and would be aggressive in convincing him to stay.

"We're still very confident that the talks with Callan and his management are being done in a positive nature, and we still see him as a huge player in our side for a long time," he said.

"We have to be confident. We'll pitch to him and his management as good as we possibly can.

"He's a local boy, born and bred around the corner, so we're not going to allow him to go lightly, as everyone could imagine.

"We want Callan Ward at our footy club. He's a future leader, and he's got that much positivity with his ability to grow as a footballer as well.

"We'll do everything we can to keep him."

The Herald Sun reported on Wednesday captain Matthew Boyd, vice-captain Daniel Giansiracusa and midfielder Daniel Cross remain unsigned beyond 2011.

Williams was unconcerned about the status of their contracts and was confident they would recommit soon.

"They're very close. Again with those guys, we're very confident that we're a fair way down the track to securing those guys for next year and beyond," he said.

Williams said out-of-favour pair Lindsay Gilbee and Will Minson, who have played 13 and nine senior games respectively this year, were contracted for 2012.

Jennifer Witham covers Western Bulldogs news for the AFL Website. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.