FIRST-year Demon Jay Kennedy-Harris says he’s found it “hard to believe” that he’s played every match of the season so far.

The small forward has impressed in 2014, after being selected at No.40 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft. The 19-year-old said he wouldn’t have expected his first AFL season would’ve panned out the way it has up until this point.

“You walk into the club and hopefully your footy gets better … with your hard work,” he told Dee TV.

“I’ve been pretty lucky to play and [my] persistence, hard work is starting to pay off a fair bit, so I’ve just got to keep backing it up.

“I certainly pinch myself at times and during the bye week, I had a look back to when I first walked into the club, I didn’t think this was going to happen.

“I’m absolutely loving it.”

After starting as Melbourne’s substitute for the opening three rounds, Kennedy-Harris said he had to work hard to play full matches.

“The first three games as a sub, I was still conditioning my body to AFL footy and the first three games, I still had to go through the week trying to get through [training] after a lot of bigger knocks,” he said.

“To get through that and build a bit more fitness, Roosy then gave me a shot of playing full games and after a few full games, you learn how to back up the running, plus the knocks.

“It’s all a learning experience and I’m getting my body used to it. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’m just trying to get a bit better every week.”

Although Kennedy-Harris has already surpassed his expectations in his debut year, he said he wanted to keep backing up his performances each week.

“It’s really hard. When I walked into the club, [I played] in the first round and it wasn’t something that I expected. The way you go about it is you’ve got to get every little bit in as much as you can,” he said.

“It’s probably what I’m just going to do for the rest of the season – I’m not going to look at how many games I’ve played or how well I’ve played … hopefully by the end of the year, it all adds up and I’m a lot better player than I was at the start of the season.”

As for his first Queen’s Birthday encounter against Collingwood at the MCG on Monday, Kennedy-Harris said he could feel the anticipation building.  

“I’m looking forward to it and I don’t think I’ll find it too overawing. I think all of the boys will enjoy hopefully having a lot of support out there,” he said.

“It’s a bit hard to know how to prepare for it, so I’ll go about it every other week for the year. I’m starting to feel the excitement around it.

“It’s always great when you come out to the ‘G and all of the fans are there and they really give you an extra lift at times.”