TOM Sparrow has made the transition that many before him failed to make.

It’s an all-too-familiar story of a dominant inside midfielder coming out of the draft, struggling to carve a niche for himself resigned to the flanks and moments pinch hitting through the midfield.

Sparrow’s ability to make that very transition has earned him a premiership medal and 51 AFL games to his name at just 22 years of age.

“You come in and you've got your Oliver and Viney, Brayshaw and Petracca, these sort of guys,” Sparrow says.

“You come in as the best midfielder on your team so for me like the SANFL or whatever it is... school footy then you're at the bottom of the hierarchy.

“It's really important to be able to expand your skillset.”

It that expanded skillset that have allowed the nuggety midfielder to find himself a place in Melbourne’s best 22 despite a stacked rotation that includes those aforementioned names.

Learning his forward craft was a move that paid off in spades as Sparrow sent a Sherrin sailing through the posts on the verge of three-quarter time in the 2021 AFL Grand Final.

“If I’m needed here I can play there, if I’m needed inside I can play there. I think it's very important to be able to be pretty versatile,” Sparrow says.

“I like to play inside, but the team requires me to go up forward a fair bit. Being able to swap between that and being able to impact in both areas.

“I think for me is really important as a player but also I find it's valuable for my teammates to be able to trust me to do those things too.”

Despite the differences between positions, Sparrow simplifies his approach to one mantra. See ball, get ball.

“A lot of playing up forward is general play. You just play footy,” he says.

“If you see the ball and that's yours to win, just go win it, don't doubt yourself.

“When I’m inside I love to hunt and try and win the footy. It's my bread and butter. So yeah, when the opportunity comes I like to go for it.

“It’s just learning the starting positions and how we move the ball which is a bit different up forward. But for me winning one on ones, it happens inside, it also happens up forward so those things translate no matter what role you’re playing.”

The success up forward has led to more midfield minutes for Sparrow, winning a career-high 16.1 disposals per game last season.

The South Adelaide product admits that he still pinches himself that he gets to line-up alongside some of the names in the Melbourne midfield.

“When you first get here, it's a bit of a shock like you see those blokes on TV and now you're playing with them,” he says.

“They're so knowledgeable, they’ve all got different strengths, they all work hard. It's really good to have role models like that who can teach you things as well.

“Being able to train against those guys just boosts your development. So for me, I think that's been extremely helpful in getting me to become a better player.

“It's also very challenging as well at training going up against those guys. But they're only there to help you, in the end we're all on the same team.”

With four AFL seasons under his belt and his fifth campaign in sight, Sparrow is clearer than ever on where he fits within the Demons’ line-up.

“Just being here for five years now, you sort of get really familiar with your role,” he says.

“Just being here and just doing the time being able to have a couple of years where I've sort of been in the team a bit more is helpful in finding your feet and where you are and progressing your development as a player up to the level.”