RISING forward Jacob van Rooyen has highlighted an honest, mid-season discussion with forwards coach Greg Stafford as the launching pad for his dynamic debut season in red and blue.

Unsatisfied with 15 goals from his first eight VFL games, van Rooyen set up a one-on-one chat with Stafford which he credits as the driving force behind his late season charge into contention for AFL selection.

“I’d had a few pretty average games,” van Rooyen says.

“It was just before the mid-season bye. So yeah, just before the Collingwood game, the week leading to that.

“I texted Greg Stafford and said I don't feel like I'm progressing the way I would like to be, so yeah can we have a chat about it?

Following the bye week discussion, the 194cm, 19-year-old booted 21 goals in 10 matches including bags of five and four goals.  

The 194cm, 91kg forward was named as an AFL emergency in five of the club’s final six matches, setting tongues wagging with mature performances rarely seen in a developing key target.

“I feel like my season started going uphill from there,” van Rooyen says.

“I started playing better. I really thought I started to play better footy.”

The Claremont product says his improved performances stemmed from a simplified approach to his football.

“We sat down, stripped it all back and took it back to three, just three simple aspects that I need to think about when I'm playing,” he says.

“That's my aerial contest, my follow up on the ground, and then making the most of my opportunities when we get them.

“When I was having days where things weren’t going my way, I’d just take it back and go back to those three things. And I would generally start to play my role better.”

Aerobic endurance is a key focus for van Rooyen as he zeros in on his first senior outing for the club.

“I feel much fitter than I did last season. I think that was one of my knocks last year was my fitness and my ability to run out games,” he says.

“So that's one thing I’ve gone away over the offseason and really tried to work on to put myself in the best position to play AFL this year.”

The off-season commitment to the cause has been noticed, with van Rooyen keeping pace with more nimble teammates as the running blocks have ramped and the Demons hit the track.

“I came back from WA over the off-season and feel really fit,” he says.

“I’ve been running a lot with Taj (Woewodin) and Judd (McVee) and they’ve pushed me really hard. I’d like to thank them, I probably have a lot to owe them with how fit I’ve come back.

“I tried to do as many running sessions as I could with Taj because he’s just a better, fitter runner than I am.

“I keep pushing myself even if I'm not running with him. I'm trying to chase him as much as I can, and that's only going to push me to get quicker and also push him to get quicker as well.”

With the mindless running in the rear-view mirror and the footballs appearing once again at Gosch’s paddock, van Rooyen is in hot pursuit of his senior breakthrough.

“That's definitely what I'm striving towards and I'll try to achieve that as early on in the season as possible,” he says.

“But if it doesn't come right away, I'll still be pushing as hard as I can to get a spot in the senior side.”