MIDFIELDER Josh Dunkley could spend more time in attack this season as the Western Bulldogs prepare to juggle their increased on-ball depth.

A white-hot Dunkley finished 2018 with 29.8 disposals in his final seven games, but he attended just seven centre bounces while gathering 18 touches in Sunday's JLT Community Series loss to Gold Coast.

With the return of Tom Liberatore, who went to 15 centre stoppages against the Suns, and the inclusion of draftee Bailey Smith, the Dogs are expected to rotate midfielders through their forward 50.

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Mitch Wallis was used out of the square in large parts on Sunday, kicking three goals in a potential sign of what's to come in 2019.  

"I think you'll see a few of us midfielders get down forward a little bit because there is that versatility side of the game," Dunkley said. 

"It is nice to see Mitch kick a few goals but hopefully we can spread the load a bit.

"I've always loved contested marking and things like that, to continue to improve that side of my game is to push forward, take marks and kick goals."

Dunkley admitted finding new avenues to goal had been a "big priority" in the off-season, with the Dogs scoring 10 goals or fewer on 13 occasions last year.  

The 2016 premiership player spent part of his off-season in the US alongside star teammate Marcus Bontempelli. The pair enjoyed a holiday before a undertaking rigorous fitness regime.  

Now into his third pre-season, Dunkley said he was already reaping the benefits.  

"At the back end of our trip (we) had a couple of weeks at Nike headquarters in Portland and another week in San Diego with an Olympic coach," Dunkley said. 

"He taught us a lot, both places taught us a lot and we've been able to bring that back and implement that into our program."

"The States stuff was more around knowing the sky's the limit, not knowing your boundaries and being able to push yourself to the absolute extreme limits.  

"We thought we had it covered but we're nowhere near it, really.

"We do Dexa scans (bone density) and we know how much muscle we've put on, I've put on a fair bit of size over the off-season, and strength and power." 

The Dogs hit the track for a recovery session on Monday with Jason Johannisen (ankle), Tom Boyd (back), Liam Picken (concussion symptoms) among a those missing.

Josh Schache and Tory Dickson, who each kicked three goals in a VFL practice match against Box Hill on Sunday, were part of the light skills run-through.  

Dunkley is expecting another near full-strength Dogs outfit to head to Ballarat on Sunday when they wrap up their pre-season campaign against St Kilda.