When it comes to midfield packs, there's perhaps none more dazzling than the personnel at Whitten Oval.
Led by captain Marcus Bontempelli, the star contingent of Jack Macrae, Adam Treloar, Josh Dunkley and Bailey Smith rival their counterparts at almost every contest.
And while each Dog often has his day, there's perhaps none more symbolic of the Bulldogs breed than Tom Liberatore.
A name richly tied to Melbourne's west, Liberatore has often gone unnoticed in the role he plays for Luke Beveridge's side, at least from an external point of view.
Stunningly, Liberatore has polled just the 26 Brownlow votes across his tenure at the Kennel, a tally that was exceeded by Bontempelli last year alone.
The recognition - or lack thereof - for Liberatore isn't only cast by umpires however, with the hard-nosed Bulldog often out-shadowed by his skipper and the remainder of Beveridge's decorated midfield ensemble.
That's no hit on the likes of Bontempelli, Macrae, Smith, Dunkley, Treloar, etc... it just highlights a CV that perhaps deserves to be much more decorated than what it currently reads.
Liberatore claimed his first and only Charles Sutton Medal as a 22-year-old in 2014, while the year prior reads as arguably his greatest in the blue, white and red statistically.
2015 was an arduous campaign for the tattooed-Dogs titan, having not appeared in a single game to a season-ending knee injury.
The hardship placed the now-30-year-old on a long path back to football, making his return against Fremantle in the Bulldogs' season opener the year after.
Liberatore amassed 17 matches in the home and away season of 2016 before featuring in all four finals as the Western Bulldogs snapped their premiership drought and brought the premiership cup back to Footscray.
Having played a monumental part in the season decider, Liberatore, like 21 other Bulldogs, had his name etched into the club's history books at the conclusion of a cherished chapter at the Bulldogs.
For those that don Dogs scarves and socks they'll know just how much 'Libba' means to the club, and how little he'd probably care about votes and medals.
He's always let his football do the talking, and 2022 is no different.
While the Bulldogs have tussled with consistency this season, Liberatore has been a constant within Beveridge's roving stocks, able to act as a facilitator and a main link in chains moving forward.
While often framed as the smallest among the clique of All-Australians and rising stars in the centre, Liberatore is often the one standing the tallest when the game is on the line.
Averaging a score involvement for every 3.5 touches and the only Bulldogs midfielder to rank top three at the club for contested possessions, tackles and clearances, Liberatore has arguably been the Dogs' best onballer in 2022.
But so much of what he does can't be concluded by numbers. He offers an intangible edge to Beveridge's side where his impact on the game, both with and without the ball, is often a reason for the Dogs getting over the line in close encounters.
He doesn't have the record disposal numbers of a Macrae, a place among the AFL's elite echelon like Bontempelli, or the marketable value of Smith, but Tom Liberatore is the Bulldog that is most deserving of praise and plaudits for his service to the club.
