IF THE makers of motivational posters are seeking someone to go with for their artwork with the word 'perseverance', they'd be hard pressed not to display a photograph of Matthew Warnock.

If anything, the Melbourne defender is persistent.

But against Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday, Warnock showed he was more than just a persistent 24-year-old in his eighth AFL match. He showed his club and the football community at large that he had more tricks up his sleeve, holding in-form Hawk forward Jarryd Roughead to just one goal and seven disposals.

Warnock teamed with fellow defender Colin Garland - another unsung eight-gamer - in restricting Lance Franklin and Roughead to just four goals between them.

It was the best defensive effort this year on the Hawthorn duo, as Franklin and Roughead entered round nine having averaged 8.62 goals between them. Even Warnock agreed it was his best performance yet in an AFL match. 

"Probably from the games I've played so far," Warnock told melbournefc.com.au.

"The second half against Freo [in round seven] I was put on [Chris] Tarrant and had a reasonably good second half there, but it was possibly my best game so far [against Hawthorn]."

For Warnock, the opportunity to play four consecutive matches is something he has relished, having played back-to-back games in rounds three and four 2006 and rounds six and seven 2007. He believes this continuity has developed his game "quite a bit".

"The more games on end I can play, the better and more confident I'm feeling out there and it's definitely been the case in the last three or four weeks, [whereas] the last couple of years, it's made it hard, coming in for just a couple [of matches]," Warnock said.

"It does make it a bit harder to progress when I'm not playing a couple at a time, but that was just the way it was."

Originally from the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup, Warnock was overlooked in the 2002 AFL Draft, before furthering his craft with the Zebras in the VFL. He spent two years at Sandringham in 2003-04, before Melbourne drafted him as a rookie.   

Warnock was on the club's rookie list in 2005-06 - he was also a member of Sandringham's triple premiership teams in 2004-05-06 - and made his AFL debut in 2006. In 2007, he was promoted to Melbourne's senior list.

It has been some journey for Warnock, so how does he reflect on it since missing out on selection for the Victoria Metropolitan team in 2002, which ultimately led him down this path?

"I actually got crook [when I was in the Vic Metro squad in 2002]. It was actually a couple of days before our first trial game and I'd lost eight kilos in a week and then I didn't make the squad," Warnock said.  

"I had a stomach bug and was crook for about a week, so I was pretty disappointed after that and it took a while to put the weight back on and get my strength back.

"It's always a dream to play league footy, but after I wasn't drafted in the under 18s, I would've loved to have got drafted as an 18-year-old, but I probably didn't have the year I wanted to [have] in the end, after getting crook.

"I was a little disappointed. I've had to work pretty hard to get where I am."

But after limited opportunities in the red and blue, was he concerned about his position on the list when new coach Dean Bailey arrived?

"Not really. I was excited about having a new coach and a fresh start and I was excited about what 'Bails' brought to the club as well," Warnock said.

"Definitely since they've (the coaching staff) been here, it's all been positive and it's all been fantastic, the new footy department, with the way it's been so far."

Although Warnock said he had received "a little bit" of feedback in the past about why he hadn't had a good crack at playing in the seniors, he was in no doubt what the new coaching regime wanted from him.

"In my first game [in 2006], I might've been a little bit underdone, because I'd been out for six weeks with a broken thumb … but this year, the coach has been pretty clear with what I need to [do]," Warnock said.