Tom Boyd may have been seen by the outside world solely as a key forward when he arrived on the AFL scene as the number pick in the 2013 AFL National Draft, but he is relishing the opportunity to have developed his ruck craft in the second of his two seasons at the Bulldogs under coach Luke Beveridge.

"Last year was a different set of challenges for me in terms of the role I played, I played a lot more ruck an I hadn't done that in the past two years," he told SEN on Wednesday morning.

“Particularly my back end of the year leading into the finals and obviously the finals, I think I really came into my own in that position and felt the most comfortable I had on an AFL field in that position. I'll be looking to build on that again."

Boyd said versatility is an important part of his game, and he is pleased that his output is being measured as much by his impact on the team as it is stats.

"I think my mindset of what my game consists of has changed over the past two years.

[I'm pleased with] my ability to contribute through the middle of the ground and not just in terms of kicks and marks and goals, but also as a competitive person in the ruck against some really talented guys, and try and get our midfield involved in some ball movement."

With Jordan Roughead and Tom Campbell set to miss the start of the premiership season, Boyd will have plenty of opportunities over the coming weeks to further hone those ruck skills as he divides his time between the forward line and the middle.

"At this stage I don't think my role will change particularly much. I played roughly just under 50% [of game time] in the ruck last year and I'll be looking to contribute a similar amount of time but obviously we'll see that changes week to week based on the circumstances.

"Obviously Roughy going down in that first JLT game changes your percentages and changes the dynamic of the team but week to week it should be about the same, roughly a 50-50 split."

Boyd was full of praise for the way coach Luke Beveridge has encouraged him as his football has grown and diversified. 

"I think for me, perhaps when I haven't had the best game on the stats sheet, if I've been a really strong contributor in those areas [Beveridge] is often really supportive and I think that allows you to not stress too much about external pressures and just focus on what really matters."

The Bulldogs' final JLT Series Community match will be against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium tomorrow evening.