NEW Western Bulldogs vice-captain Jack Macrae has pledged his long-term future to the club, expecting his contract to be sorted sooner rather than later.

The three-time All-Australian midfielder was unveiled in a new-look five-man leadership group at Whitten Oval on Monday, with superstar midfielder Marcus Bontempelli to lead the club for a third consecutive season in 2022, while Caleb Daniel, Taylor Duryea and Aaron Naughton have all been included in the leadership group.

The club underwent a leadership process ahead of their pre-season camp in Warrnambool last week, before formalising the new group while in country Victoria ahead of a four-day break, moving away from the two-man leadership group they used last season.

With Carlton midfielder Sam Walsh opting against dragging on contract discussions into the season by signing a four-year extension earlier in the day, Macrae is one of the biggest names that remains unsigned beyond October.

Macrae, 27, said it was a proud day for him and his family after nine years of service, 185 games and the 2016 premiership player will now leave his manager, Paul Connors, to sort out his next deal with Bulldogs list manager Sam Power.

"It means an enormous amount to me and my family. The journey we've been on together – it's my tenth year this year – I'm extremely passionate about the club and the direction," Macrae told reporters at VU Whitten Oval on Monday afternoon.

"(I'm) fortunate enough to be a Western Bulldogs player and hopefully not just a good player, but a great person around the club going forward. It means a lot, but for me, I'm going to go with my strengths with my leadership aspect. I think that’s probably the beauty of the group that we have; everyone has their strengths.

"I think it's no secret that everyone knows how much I love the club and how proud I am to represent this club every week. I want to retire as a Western Bulldogs player, I can't be anymore black and white than that. I want to finish my career here. I'll leave it to my manager and leave it there."

Bontempelli was named vice-captain in last year's All-Australian team, following a season where he earned his fourth blazer and won a fourth Charles Sutton Medal after leading the Western Bulldogs to a second Grand Final appearance in five years.

The 26-year-old finished runner-up behind Port Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines in the Brownlow Medal on 33 votes – the equal fourth-most votes in a single count in the history of the award – and is already regarded as one of the best players to ever wear the red, white and blue, despite being only halfway through his career.

Bontempelli became vice-captain at 22 in 2018 and held the position for two years before taking the reins from Easton Wood ahead of the 2020 season.

South Australian Caleb Daniel was included in the five-man group after establishing himself as a star of the competition in the past few years. 

The classy free agent is out of contract at the end of October and the club is hopeful this appointment will play a role in securing the 2020 All-Australian's signature beyond 2022.

Mitch Wallis chose to step down from being vice-captain after falling out of favour in 2021.

The 29-year-old was appointed to the role ahead of the season after a career-best year in 2020, but found his way out of Luke Beveridge's side after round two and didn’t feature again until round 14, adding three more senior appearances for the season. 

Bontempelli said Wallis, who has been trialled on a wing in match simulation over the past month, couldn’t have been more impressive with the way he carried himself last year and knew standing down was the right thing to do given the circumstances.

"It was a conversation that he and Bevo had and I think it was something in the end Mitch felt was the right thing for him to do," he said.

"He was incredible last year, despite not playing as much as he would have liked and not being where he wanted in a football sense. He was an incredible support for me in the background, without being there on game day. It became more of a football decision. He still loves being a leader of the football club and loves setting an example. It hasn’t changed anything for Mitch."

The Western Bulldogs are set to face Essendon in a practice match at The Hangar later this month ahead of their AAMI Community Series game against Brisbane at Marvel Stadium on March 4.