THE OPPORTUNITY to be the linchpin in Melbourne's forward line appeals strongly to Sam Weideman and the emerging Demon is preparing himself to grab the extra responsibility with both hands.
The focus on Weideman is set to increase this year following the departure of Jesse Hogan to Fremantle.
After his first uninterrupted pre-season in his four years at the club, the 21-year-old is feeling confident heading into 2019.
"With Jesse gone the spot has opened up and I see it as an opportunity," Weideman told AFL.com.au.
"'Goody' (coach Simon Goodwin) has spoken to me and told me there's no added pressure from any of the coaches or anything like that. It's just that there's clearly an opportunity there, and I recognise that.
"I put it on myself to grab that with both hands and I want to be a consistent member of the senior team next year so it's up to me and I've just got to keep driving myself."
Weideman, who has played 20 career games, had his coming-of-age moment in Melbourne's memorable 29-point elimination finals win – its first in 12 years – against Geelong last season.
Symbolising the contribution from Melbourne's new wave, the young forward booted three goals from 24 disposals and hauled in seven marks in a display that earned him best-on-ground honours from both coaches.
The belief Weideman gained from that best-afield performance, in particular, has him buoyed ahead of 2019.
His career-defining finals series aside, it's easy to forget that Weideman managed just 10 senior games last season and had three separate stints for the Casey Demons in the VFL as he looked to establish himself as a regular AFL player.
"I've taken a lot of confidence out of that finals series. I wasn't playing the footy I wanted to at AFL level previously and to get that opportunity to showcase what I'd been working on was great and I'm hoping I can lead that into this year and this pre-season," Weideman said.
"I really started to enjoy my footy a lot in the back end of last season and hopefully that can flow on into this season.
"As the year progressed I was playing the way I wanted to and the coaches were putting a lot of time into me and a lot of the stuff I was working on at training was slowly coming out in my games."
While Weideman won't shy away from his goal of becoming 'the man', he won't be a lone key option in the Demons' forward 50.
Tom McDonald (who booted a club-high 53 goals in 2018) will take plenty of attention, while other mid-sized options including Jake Melksham (32), Alex Neal-Bullen (27) and Christian Petracca (19) add important balance to Melbourne's forward line.
Hogan's scoring power will not be easy to replace. The new Fremantle spearhead kicked 47 goals in 20 matches in 2018 before being ruled out for the season with a foot injury in round 21.
"Jesse's such a unique player and he's got a lot of different skills that he brings to the table. It's a little bit different not having the big fella around," Weideman said.
"But it's given everyone a chance to showcase our skills. All our forwards are really starting to jell together now and we're all training hard."
Weideman falls out of contract at the end of 2019 and although he's not in any rush to discuss an extension, he has made it clear that he wants to stay with the Demons in a long-term capacity.
"I love the Dees so I'm hoping we can work something out which I'm sure will happen in the future," Weideman said.
"I'm looking at having a strong year personally. I'm not going to rest on my laurels and that stuff will work itself out. It's not really fazing me too much at the moment."
