IT HAS taken him a little longer than he would’ve liked, but Shane Valenti’s AFL dream will become a reality when he runs on to AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

The strongly-built 21-year-old rookie was elevated in place of injured skipper David Neitz on Thursday, and he’s determined to quickly set about making up for lost time against the Adelaide Crows.

“We had a midfield meeting and [football operations manager] Ross Monaghan came and got me after it and said, ‘Can we have a minute of your time?’” Valenti said, recalling his big moment.

“I went in to see Dean Bailey and he asked me to sign a piece of paper, but I asked him what it was for; he said, ‘Well if you don’t sign it you can’t play on the weekend’.

“I still didn’t know quite what he meant and he said, ‘We’re promoting you, congratulations, you’ll be playing on the weekend against Adelaide’.

“It’s been a pretty solid three or four-year effort, and I’ve finally got there. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m just rapt to finally have the opportunity to have a crack on the big stage.”

It hasn’t been an easy path to the elite level for the nuggety onballer, who had his draft year at the Sandringham Dragons ruined by a mystery knee injury. The Mentone lad quickly put aside the disappointment of not being drafted and made the short journey over to the Sandringham Zebras, Melbourne’s affiliate club in the VFL, with spectacular results.

He played every game, including Sandy’s Grand Final win, in his first year and also finished runner-up to Geelong’s Jason Davenport in the count for the Round-Fothergill Medal, the award given to the best young player in the VFL.

Valenti went one better in 2007 with his form helping him take out the prestigious award and earn a place on Melbourne’s rookie list. 

Naturally there were a few moments of self-doubt along the way, but he never really lost sight of his ultimate goal.

“Sometimes I might have wondered whether I might be past it or if I might not have what it takes, but I thought I would just keep giving it a crack,” he says.

“I was playing pretty good footy in the VFL and I played a couple of practice games with Melbourne when they needed top-up players and I seemed to do all right and I thought, ‘Nah bugger it, I reckon I can match it with these blokes’.

“So I kept working away and finally a little bit of luck came my way.”

Making it onto the Demons’ rookie list was just the first step, however, with Valenti directed to eliminate question-marks about his speed and endurance over the course of the summer.

“Working with [physical preparation manager] Bohdan Babijczuk over the pre-season, he reckons I’ve improved a lot and I feel like I have, too,” he says.

“The time and amount of effort put into an AFL pre-season is amazing, but I’ve enjoyed it so much and I’ve learned a lot from the boys and the coaches.

“I reckon you lift to the level of the competition that you’re playing and training with and to be able to do that has lifted me another notch, I think.”

Valenti has no problems with making his AFL debut in front of a hostile interstate crowd, although he does admit to a strong desire to play on the MCG. The club is flying his proud parents over to Adelaide to watch, with some of his good mates also making the trip for what he hopes will be a debut to remember.