BEING delisted without playing a senior game would be considered a failure by most aspiring league footballers, but not Western Bulldog Joel Hamling. 

Stuck behind a host of premiership stars in his three years at Geelong, the versatile defender never lost sight of his AFL dream.

"I look at it as a bit of apprenticeship, really," Hamling told AFL.com.au.

"Being six foot four (193cm) and 79 kilograms when I first arrived at Geelong and playing with a pretty handy backline of Harry Taylor, Tom Lonergan, James Kelly, Andrew Mackie and Corey Enright, I wasn't quite up to it at that stage – well not in that team anyway. 

"I'm really close to Lonergan and Taylor and they taught me a lot of their knowledge and now I can come in and make an impact. It's been really important for my development."

Signed by the then coachless Bulldogs during the delisted free agents window last November, the 22-year-old again had to bide his time before his long-awaited debut against Greater Western Sydney in round nine.

That apprenticeship has served him well, holding his own against one of the competition's best forwards in Jeremy Cameron and then backing it up against Port Adelaide's Jay Schulz the following week. 

He will need to hold that form if he wants to keep his spot with a once-thin Bulldogs' backline becoming one of the team's strengths.

"I've played OK on those guys, held my own and gone from there," Hamling said.

"(But) Michael Talia, Fletcher Roberts and I all play that key-position role and with Dale Morris playing a bit small now, I guess it comes down to who's playing well at the time.

"With us younger guys playing it lets Jordan Roughead play forward and in the ruck, allowing us to exploit the opposition and it's definitely worked OK."

But the advantage Hamling has over Roberts and Talia is his ability to play small if required. 

"I played on (Chad) Wingard against Port Adelaide, so I actually prefer to play on a small than a tall and 'Bevo' (coach Luke Beveridge) wants that flexibility," Hamling said.

"So playing a role like Dustin Fletcher with my versatility suits me because I've got the ability to match them on the ground and expose them in the air." 

While he is thrilled to be finally playing league football, the Broome product is just as excited about his new club's prospects.

"I was lucky enough to have a few options (after leaving Geelong), but I went through the Dogs' list, age bracket and their plans and it was really exciting," Hamling said.

"With heaps of guys my age, hopefully we can all come through together and by the time we're 27-28, hopefully we're contesting for a few premierships."

While he is likely to stand anyone from marking forward Daniel McStay to speedy former teammate Allen Christensen in his third game on Saturday night against the Brisbane Lions, Hamling has adopted a humble mantra. 

"Someone once told me don't count your games, you make your games count and that's what I want to do," Hamling said.