WHEN Clint Bartram was a junior footballer playing at Ocean Grove, success was expected.
 
He was a key part of about half a dozen premierships.
 
Before he was legally able to drink or drive, Melbourne had drafted him. He moved to town, impressed early and made his debut against Carlton in round one, 2006 aged 18 years and 45 days.
 
He played all 22 games before an ankle injury forced him to miss the finals series. Melbourne won its first final against the Saints and tumbled out in week two after losing to Fremantle.
 
It remains Melbourne's most recent appearance in a finals series.
 
This reality has subdued Bartram as he prepares to play his 100th game this week against St Kilda.
 
"[I'm] still very unsatisfied with my career, having not had the success that a lot of my friends at different clubs have [had]," said Bartram. "So that is something that is still driving me."
 
At just 24, the ambitious Bartram is impatient. He wants to contribute on and off the field to help push Melbourne up the ladder.
 
"I am at that stage in my career where I can have a real influence over the group and for me it is just important that it is a positive one," said Bartram.

"For me it is just about driving standards because I know that I don't have as long left in the game as some of these young guys that walked through the door so for me the penny has dropped and I need to play finals footy."
 
He admits that the process Melbourne is going through at the moment is sometimes frustrating, but he understands it is necessary if real success is to be achieved.
 
"Unfortunately, as Neil Craig (Melbourne's director of sports performance) says to us, the scoreboard is the last thing that ticks over and as long as we are doing the right things behind the scenes then footy has a funny way of repaying you," said Bartram.
 
Bartram impresses as the type of player any new regime needs. He is urgent but empathetic, fun yet serious. When training, he switches on. The rest of the time he lives life, has a laugh, follows his passions.
 
Turning the key in the ignition of his 1966 Mustang Fastback is one of his pleasures.

Surfing, one imagines, lifts his spirit too. Bartram can take to the waves and then re-enter the football world fresher in body and mind. He tries to find some waves as often as possible, finding surfing a relaxing way "to get away from the football club."
 
Perhaps such diversions explain why he can keep a smile on his face most days, never complaining about a left knee that squeals when the bone rubs on the bone. Everyone playing AFL football has niggles, he says, and that is his cross to bear. Thankfully, surfing and the cold Victorian water is good for it.
 
As a player, Bartram is courageous, hard at the ball, even old-fashioned in some of his mannerisms. He has a hunger for the contest and good endurance, and has shown his qualities as a run-with player or small defender. He also attacks the game with his eyes wide, the look of a man happy to rumble.
 
Some knock his disposal but it's rare to see Bartram with the ball in open terrain. He works in crowded spaces, a small defender shuffling through football's narrow lanes and peak hour streets.
 
Honest and direct and diligent, his mates hold him in high regard.
 
Perhaps they understand his commitment to those around him better than most. Bartram has always spoken lovingly about his family and his father Steve, who passed away three years ago. To speak of such matters in interviews must be hard but when he does so his values shine through.
 
"I'm blessed to have such a supportive family that come up and watch me play pretty much every single game that I play," he said.

"I'm really appreciative of the love and support that they give me and at the same time I know dad would be looking down as proud as punch because he was my number one supporter and he loved seeing me play football because that is what made me happy and it made him happy."
 
His family will be at the game as always to watch him reach his milestone. It's a milestone that makes him proud but also renews his determination as Melbourne battles to reverse a form slump that has gone on too long.

Success, as Bartram knows, is not something he can expect to happen. Much work lies ahead if he is to play in his first final anytime soon.
 
"We are doing everything we can to get out of it at the moment but it would certainly be nice to experience a bit more success before my career is over," said Bartram.