REJUVENATED Western Bulldog Patrick Veszpremi is undergoing a drastic mindset makeover that could help him make a successful transition from carefree forward to miserly backman.

Veszpremi has vowed to abandon "the fancy stuff" in preference for more team-first, percentage play that he hopes will make him a reliable defender and teammate.

Despite being a No. 11 pick in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft and making a spectacular impression as a teenager with the Sydney Swans, Veszpremi had appeared in danger of dropping off the radar.

After 11 games (and 12 goals) spread across three injury-hampered seasons in Sydney, he was traded to the Bulldogs in exchange for Andrejs Everitt, but managed to play just the last three games of 2011.

But in his second season at Whitten Oval, the now 22-year-old's AFL career has been reignited by a surprise move to defence instigated by Dogs coach Brendan Mccartney.

In their first one-on-one meeting at the start of the pre-season, McCartney had asked him how he felt about a shift to the backline, and Veszpremi was immediately sold on the idea.

"It's not a bad thing to know two positions," he told AFL.com.au. "You become more versatile and it adds a different dimension to your game. It's a case of whatever gives me the best chance of playing AFL footy.

It wasn't exactly foreign territory for Veszpremi, who had actually played much of his junior football in defence. He became a forward by mere chance.

In his final season with the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup under-18 competition, he injured a shoulder and was restricted to limited game time, which made him better suited to a forward role. He appeared set for a career in attack after bagging eight goals in a TAC Cup qualifying final in 2007.

He then blazed 9.11 in his first five games for the Swans as an 18-year-old at the end of 2008.

However the switch to defence hasn't been without its challenges.

After playing three NAB Cup games, Veszpremi was sent back to the VFL with Williamstown with instructions to develop a more conservative approach.

"I needed to shut my man down and defend first before I did anything else," he explained.

"I had that flair of a forward - I wanted to hit the difficult target and take the ball off the line and do all that fancy stuff that forwards do. 

"For me it's natural to get the footy and kick it. But I'm not worrying about that now; I just need to focus on the simple stuff.

"I want to bring that out at AFL level now."

Veszpremi has played the past two games with the Dogs, gathering 19 and 15 disposals respectively.

"I'm loving being back there, but I've obviously still got a lot to learn because I'm making a few mistakes every week," he said. "But in a way it's good to make some mistakes because I'm learning from them and improving."

In many ways, Veszpremi's backline experience at junior level was irrelevant because playing in the back half in the TAC Cup circa 2006-07 as opposed to in the AFL in 2012 couldn't be more of a contrast.

"You can't just cruise around - you need to know when to push up, press, roll off, and I'm still learning all of that," he said.

"I want to be a defender who's hard to play against and reliable. I want to stop my opponent from getting a kick but then make him worry about me.

"Everything now is going really well - where my head is at, where my body's at. 

"There's no big bumps in the road, everything's smooth. I just keep looking forward to the next opportunity to improve."

Veszpremi attributes his newfound equilibrium to McCartney.

"Mac has had that calming influence on a lot of players, especially myself," he said. "Just to have that calmness throughout the week to really focus on your goal has been really beneficial.

"There's always going to be a spanner thrown into the works, as I've discovered, so you need to stay calm and stick to your guns and hopefully you'll come out the other end. From a bad kick to a good kick, just keep persisting."

Veszpremi is also grateful to his girlfriend Nicola Begg, a Sydney girl, for being patient when he wasn't.

"Some players take a bit longer to mature and I was very impatient, but she's been a great support," he said. "It's been a hard couple of years, but she's made it easier."