NEW WESTERN Bulldogs list manager Jason McCartney is a man of strong mind (as his remarkable story attests) yet a refreshingly easy-going nature.

He generally doesn't get too high or low - or at least he doesn't show it outwardly, and certainly not in the form of outlandish statements.

A level head and a measured outlook have served McCartney well. It harks back to his wholesome upbringing in the small western Victorian country town of Nhill, halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide. However, ask McCartney about the potential of the Dogs' playing list for 2012 and beyond and he becomes instantly bullish.

Perhaps surprisingly so, given the advancing years of many of the Dogs' best players, the fact they finished 10th last year and the unknown impact of their entire playing list having to learn the methods and requirements of new coach Brendan McCartney.

But, then again, odds and critics have never concerned the other McCartney at the kennel.

"All being equal, we think we'll be a really competitive side and hopefully that puts us in a position to challenge come the business end of the season," he told westernbulldogs.com.au.

"I don't think you can ever put a ceiling on what's achievable because you just don't know how quickly players will develop with the quality of the program that 'Mac' and the assistants have put in place.

"With a new coach coming in, the players are excited and enthused by some of the new things they're learning, so you never know where that might lead, or how quickly you'll get there.

"The Bulldogs were in three preliminary finals in a row, and dropped away a bit last year for various reasons, but you don't want to have to go all the way to the bottom before you come back to the top bracket. If last year was our drop, we want to go back up again now. And we give ourselves a real chance of building to that level again."

McCartney believes the Bulldogs have adequate talent in their midfield and defensive zones to challenge most opponents.

The only major question mark hangs over their ability to score following the departure of retired star Barry Hall, a scenario McCartney is also eyeing with optimism as he says it will present opportunity and greater responsibility to young key forwards such as Liam Jones, Jarrad Grant and Jordan Roughead.

"The mix is quite solid," he said.

"Our backs are quite settled and experienced, with good versatility, and they've still got time on their side.

"Games are won and lost in the midfield and we think we're pretty well served there with our established guys and some younger players who are trying to get in there, which will help spread the workload.

"Our forward half consists of many younger guys. 'Gia' (Daniel Giansiracusa) provides a lot of experience up there, and (Luke) Dahlhaus gave the attack some genuine spark late last season, but there's not a lot in terms of games' experience among our key forward targets. But sometimes when young blokes get an opportunity, they thrive. We hope that happens here."

Another concern is that most of the Bulldogs' strongest contributors are their more senior men, as evidenced by the fact that the youngest member of the club's five-man leadership group is seasoned Daniel Cross, and he'll be 29 in March. But McCartney believed they still had much to offer.

"Our older players are still in great condition," he said.

"Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross are glowing examples of that. 'Boydy' has just come off winning the best and fairest, and he and 'Crossy' are still setting the standards on the track in terms of fitness and training intensity."

It seems some difficult decisions will need to be made on some of the club's veterans in the not-too-distant future - as early as this year - but they have McCartney's support.

"Things would have to go downhill pretty quickly for some of our high-quality older players to be only 12-month propositions," he said.

"It's more the two-year-plus timeframe where that might start to come into play, however form, injury and our list profile ultimately shape those decisions."

He said one of the often-underestimated benefits of retaining experienced campaigners was their value as mentors for younger players.

"Our older players, while performing to their own high standards, are important to the group and the education of our young players.

"If we wanted to, we could have four or five picks inside 50 at this year's draft, and if you bring them in, it's great to have that experience around them."

The Bulldogs players are also benefiting from the wisdom of its new coaching panel.

"One of the great things about Mac as coach, Simon Dalrymple as head of recruiting and myself as list manager is that we are all very clear on the direction we want to head with regards to the now and also the future of the club," McCartney said.

"It's like when I heard 'Bucks' (Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley) interviewed recently and he said it's not about building to win one (premiership) but having your list in a position where you give yourself a chance at sustained success.

"And I think we've got an advantage in that we've appointed a senior coach who spent 10 years helping to building one of the all-time great powerhouses at Geelong. While Mac was there, they recruited and developed well, and it's netted them three premierships. We can take a lot out of Mac's experiences."