Imagine what it’s like playing with your football heroes.

That’s what confronted a young Rohan Smith when he arrived at the then Western Oval as a fresh-faced 18-year old in late 1991. 

The man that would go on to play 300 games and become a Club-great himself, was suddenly lacing up his boots alongside players he grew up idolising as a life-long Bulldogs fan.

“When I first got to the footy Club… I grew up barracking for the Club, I lived a dropkick away from the Club and was here every second Saturday afternoon,” he reveals on episode three of Guardians of the Guernsey, a series exclusive to BulldogsTV.

“My idols were Doug Hawkins, Steve Wallis and Steve Macpherson.

“So, those guys were all my idols growing up as a kid and now I’m playing with them.

“It was a bit surreal for me to come to the Club.”

And it was how Doug Hawkins embraced the young man from Yarraville on that first day that shaped how he worked with younger players as they came into the Club throughout his playing career and later in his role as an assistant coach.

“I remember the first day of training and Doug Hawkins put his arm around me and said, ‘you’re one of us now’. 

“I know you were a western suburbs boy but you’re a pure Bulldog now. 

“So that was something I wanted to do when I got a bit older, with the young guys.”

Episode three of Guardians of the Guernsey premieres on BulldogsTV on Wednesday, 4 May, 8pm.