DEFENDER Ryan Hargrave is confident he will be a Bulldog for life after agreeing to the terms of a new three-year deal with the club last week.

Hargrave, 28, and his management have settled on a new contract that will leave him at Whitten Oval until the end of 2012.

The backman, who is one of three Bulldogs to have been named in the 40-man All-Australian squad this season, said he always wanted to remain at the club.

"It was a pretty easy decision for me," he told westernbulldogs.com.au on Wednesday.

"It will probably see me through to the end, and it's great to know I'll stay at the one club for my whole career."

Hargrave has been one of a few Bulldogs whose future has been hotly discussed in recent times, given his improvement as a versatile defender and Western Australian origin.

Despite West Coast expressing interest with his manger Ricky Nixon, Hargrave says he did not consider leaving the club he has called home since 1999.

"We spoke early on in the year, and I said to my manager I wasn't in any rush to worry about it," he said.

"I spoke to James Fantasia (general manager of football) and he said they wanted me here, and I wanted to be here myself so there were never really any concerns.

"It was just a matter of when we sat down and worked it all out, and I'm glad it's all done now."

He admitted he had previously thought about requesting a move to a Western Australian team after battling homesickness.

"When you first move over and you're only 17 years old, I missed my family a lot," he said.

"Melbourne is a big place and it was hard, but once I started playing and I became friends with guys at the club and stuff like that, I really always wanted to be here."

He said the recent re-signing of coach Rodney Eade, along with players Shaun Higgins, Will Minson, Callan Ward, Tom Williams, Andrejs Everitt, Dylan Addison, Jarrad Grant, Jarrad Boumann and Easton Wood, had influenced his decision.

"Everything seems to be going pretty well. We've made the finals two years in a row and now we're top four.

"We've got a really great young list that's going to have a real chance for a premiership over the next two or three years, if not this year."

Hargrave said he hoped fellow defender and good friend Brian Lake, who is still out of contract, would be able to come to a similar arrangement with the club in the near future.

"I'm hoping it all goes well for him, and he deserves whatever he gets because he's a great player," he said.

"I haven't really spoken to him too much about it. He's a fairly private sort of guy, and it's between him, his manager and the club.

"They'll settle it soon and get it out the way. I hope so anyway, because I'd love him to stay."