Inspiration can come from any number of places. 

And sometimes for a footballer it can come from someone standing right beside you in the race.

Jason Johannisen arrived at the Kennel as part of the 2010’s bumper draft class along with Mitch Wallis, Tom Liberatore and Luke Dahalhaus.  While Wallis and Liberatore were highly rated father-son pickups, Johannisen and Dahlhaus landed at Barkly Street via the Rookie Draft at picks 22 and 39 respectively.

The dreadlocked Dahlhaus went on to debut in round 12 of that first season, just two months shy of his 19^th birthday, and by November he had been elevated off the rookie list and had signed a contract extension.

Johannisen, honing his craft on suburban grounds, a long way from the bright lights of Etihad Stadium, was watching closely.

“My first year, I mostly played Williamstown seconds, not even VFL,” he told westernbulldogs.com.au as part of the next episode of the exclusive web series, Guardians of the Guernsey.

“I only played three or four VFL games my first year, [and] at the time I thought it was a normal thing that rookies had to go through. 

“After watching Dahl rise up so quickly, it gave me a bit of belief that I can do that as well.”  

 A permanent place on the Bulldogs list didn’t come easy for the 23-year-old West Australian, but it was the rapid-rise of his fellow draftee that gave him the confidence to keep up the fight.

“When you first get here, you do feel like you don’t belong but as time goes on, you feel like ‘wait a minute, I belong here, this is what I am made to do.’

“Your self-belief and confidence just goes up.

“Because he was number 40, we spent a lot of time together because we’re both rookies, so to see him get his first game against St.Kilda and then play the rest of the year just gave me, wow… I can do this.

“To see him do it, I think it really helped me develop my footy.”

Fast forward to now and Johannisen and Dahlhaus are part of a new breed that last season lead the Club to its first finals appearance since 2010.

And as Johannisen readies himself for a return to football this weekend after an extended lay-off, he’s more determined than ever to see the Dogs return to September with his close mates right beside him.

“Our draft year was Tom Liberatore, Mitch Wallis. Luke and myself.. we had a pretty close knit group there. 

“We’ve spent the last six years together now and hopefully we can drive the footy club to some success.”

Guardians of the Guernsey, Episode four, featuring Jason Johannisen and Tony Liberatore will premiere on westernbulldogs.com.au on Wednesday, 29 June at 8pm.