WILLIAMSTOWN forward Pat Rose realised a long-held dream last year when his name was called out by the Western Bulldogs in the rookie draft.

Taken at pick No. 68, the Bulldogs’ final selection of the year, Rose was overjoyed by the news. It had been years of heartbreak and more than a decade in the making.

Three months on and Rose is optimistic about the year ahead. He missed out on spots in the Bulldogs’ NAB Cup preseason matches that culminated in Saturday night’s 40-point win over St Kilda, but he hopes with some hard work his name will be on Rodney Eade’s mind in due course.

“I played for the past four years at Williamstown as a small forward (but) the Doggies made it pretty clear when they invited me down that there was no spot for me in the forward line so I had to work on my fitness and try to become a midfielder – use my kicking skills,” he said.

“There are a lot of guys at the moment who are ahead of me - Matthew Boyd, Shaun Higgins - I just have to be patient and wait for my opportunity.

“I just have to make sure I keep training right and do everything I can to make sure that when I get my opportunity I take it and do the best I can to hold on to my spot from there.”

The 23-year-old has done the hard yards to get his name on an AFL list. Starting his career in Warrandyte’s under-15s, Rose moved to Newport before going through the TAC Cup system with the Western Jets.

But at the end of his under-18 career he was not picked up by an AFL club and was signed to Williamstown in the VFL where he spent the past four seasons.

After preseasons with Collingwood (2006) and the Bulldogs (2007) he was still left wanting, and so in September last year, when he heard the news that he would get another chance at Whitten Oval, he put his head down and worked.

“I think over the past three or four years there has been a perception that I haven’t been the fittest guy going around but when I found out the Dogs were going to give me a preseason it was probably about the start of September. From then I think I just trained every day after I got home from work.

“I just trained for an hour and a half to two hours by myself. There were some days I got home I didn’t want to do it but I knew if I wanted to get on an AFL list I had to do it. It just became a routine.”

And when it came to the Bulldogs training?

“Whenever I was out on the track I just tried to impress. I never gave up, just ran as hard as I can. In the end I think I kind of won them over and in the end they had no choice but to take me with their last pick.

“I have been at the Bulldogs now for about three months, it is all going well. It is full on. It’s my job and it’s six days a week training, three times a day. It’s pretty tough but I love it.

“It’s something I have aspired to do for the last 14 to 15 years of my life.”

Rose had some good news for Bulldogs fans: after a solid preseason the Dogs are in mint condition heading into the season proper.

“We did a fitness test the other day and we added up all our fitness results and since November 16 I think we have had 67 personal bests in either the gym, running or swimming so the boys, we are pretty fit.”

For Rose, the likes of Brad Johnson, Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd have been an inspiration, allowing him to leave training every day with something new to think about but it is a friend and former Williamstown teammate whom he is hoping to emulate.

“Liam Picken is probably the stand-out,” Rose said. He got picked up in the last year rookie draft and played 23 games (in 2009). He is one of my closest mates and I am just trying to follow in his footsteps and play a couple of games this year.”

Time will tell if there is room for Rose to blossom in red, white and blue.