The holes in every club’s list ahead of the AFL Draft

Akin to the Eagles, the Dogs' most glaring questions lie wither their rucking department.

While several tall Pups currently call the Whitten Oval home, the way in which they were utilised in a season that fell shy of a third flag raised more questions than it answered.

Although the ability to call on a number of capable names means that the same issues that worry West Coast don't apply on Barkly Street, the apparent lack of a concrete plan for the future has raised doubts in the minds of many talking heads.

Ahead of 2022, the Bulldogs will welcome back the services of Jordon Sweet, Tim English, and Stefan Martin.

Though they were all brought to the kennel to play the same role, the fact they have all been erratically deployed has left many questioning just who is Luke Beveridge's top preference for the main role.

Across the course of the 2021 season, none of the three names managed to play in each of the Dogs' games on the road to the last Saturday in September, yet English's 22 games were enough to finish ahead of Martin with nine and Sweet with five.

While this statistic would suggest that English was Beveridge's top tap work option, the fact that the baby-faced Western Australian spent more time up forward than he did eyeing off a fellow giant puts paid to this.

Should you break the numbers down, English attended a mean of only 13 centre bounces across each of his outings in 2021 for a return of 15.5 hit-outs per week.

Despite appearing on less than half the number of occasions, Martin's mean sat at 18.7 CBAs, with the former Demon and Lion managing to get first-hands hand to the Sherrin 17.1 times per round.

Still, for Sweet, the numbers were just that, with the 23-year-old starting in the guts an average of 23.2 times across his five games and proving the most potent by winning a mean of 19.8 hit-outs between Rounds 5 and 11.

While this does show that when given the opportunity, Sweet, on average, prevailed as the best strike weapon, these numbers do not provide the full narrative that was perennially prone to changing course.

As hip, shoulder, and groin injuries hampered much of Martin's first season with the Bulldogs, Sweet was used as a one-out option in the middle before 'Bevo' opted of bringing him back after the bye.

Enter English, whose numbers in the middle rose and dropped as the club's most senior option in Martin came in and out of the side.

Still, the former top 10 draftee was aided with the use of training wheels, with Lewis Young providing a hand across the season before English was allowed an unencumbered run towards the finals.

During the semi-final against Brisbane, English attended 17 centre bounces, but less than a month later in the grand final, he saw action at only 9.

This shows that if fit, Martin is the first choice option, but given he will turn 35 next month, is it high time that the keys are given to the kid they brought across the Nullarbor to sit in the driver's seat?

With Young now calling Princes Park home, the option to have him aid English in the middle has been shaved, and with Sweet seen as sour from Round 12 onwards, is the duel for the role down to just two?

As the Bulldogs look set to bring in another rucking option in Sam Darcy who can also play up forward, will the father-son option be made to wait before to replacing English in the forward 50?

Or will Martin be moved to a mentoring role and be used as a source of wisdom for the trio all aged below 25?

Though a wealth of names capable of performing a job could be argued as being the direct opposite of a hole, the fact the Bulldogs were beaten so badly from the centre of the ground during the grand final, the ambiguity of the position is still a cause for concern.