MUCH of the talk about the Western Bulldogs ruck stocks has focused on triple towers Will Minson, Jordan Roughead and Ayce Cordy, but Minson believes youngster Tom Campbell is also staking a strong claim for a senior berth.

Twenty-year-old Campbell, a 201cm/101kg ruckman from VFL club Bendigo Bombers, was the No. 27 pick in last year's NAB AFL Rookie Draft.

Minson, the Bulldogs' No. 1 ruckman following the departure of Ben Hudson to the Brisbane Lions, enthused about the club's ruck situation, suggesting Campbell could become a surprise packet - and not just with his ruckwork.

"There's a lot of talented footballers at the football club, and Jordan Roughead and Ayce Cordy and myself, and even young Tom Campbell's a young fella we've picked up this year," Minson said at the Bulldogs family day on Sunday.

"There's plenty of options to play in the ruck and plenty of options to play in the forward line.

"I saw Tom Campbell kick a goal from 80 [metres] into the wind off one step the other week in a practice match and that got a few eyes going. I can’t say I've kicked too many into the northerly hear at the Whitten Oval, and he did that on a few occasions. So he's an exciting prospect."

Minson said he had done less work as a forward this pre-season.

"I've definitely focused a lot more on my ruckwork this year," the 26-year-old said.

"It's great having [assistant coach] Steven King onboard. [I've] done a lot of ruck work and we've recruited a few more big guys … which has been great because we've had more big guys on the track to do ruck work with.

"There's been a strong ruck focus for a lot of us."

Minson said that coach Brendan McCartney had introduced a change in philosophy, adding: "Sometimes they're just subtle changes but it's the subtle changes that make the really big differences."

Onstage at the family day, McCartney was asked by MC Kevin Hillier how the pre-season had been and got a laugh when he quipped: "The players are probably a lot better to ask, Kevin, because I stand around and yell at them most of the time and don’t actually get puffed like they do."

The coach declared his side was "in a good position to play some really competitive football". He forecast that "younger faces would emerge" but that some "great champions" would be "hitting the season strongly" after producing strong preparations.

"I'm not going to go through them one by one, but you'll see them on the TV in the next couple of weeks," he said.

Skipper Matthew Boyd expected the Bulldogs to "hit the ground running" in round one against West Coast at Etihad Stadium, and expressed the ultimate aim of a return to the finals.

Asked whether the players had muscled up, Boyd said: "No, I think the polos are a bit smaller this year."

Boyd then elaborated: "We've been doing five weights sessions a week, which has probably ramped up a little bit from previous years, and [there is] certainly a focus on lower body as well as upper body. I hope you see a change in body shape."

The Bulldogs' top two draftees Clay Smith and Michael Talia both said the Bulldogs pre-season had been the hardest thing they had ever done.

The youngsters have vastly different backgrounds, Smith taking basketball more seriously until the age of 15, while Talia was always destined to play AFL with his great-grandfather Arthur "Chidda" Stevens captaining the Bulldogs in 1929 and grandfather Harvey Stevens the ruckman in the club's 1954 premiership side.