Season in short:

Although seen as a key to the Bulldogs success over coming seasons, Talia struggled to find form in 2014.

The 21-year-old managed three senior games, including a strong performance against Essendon’s Joe Daniher in round seven.

 PLAYER PROFILE: View Michael Talia's player profile and 2014 season statistics.

Talia played the remainder of the season in the VFL, with a solid performances in defence, including his best game in the VFL Preliminary Final, where he picked up 16 disposals and took crucial intercept marks.

The stat that mattered:

While Talia only managed three senior games in 2014, he averaged 12 disposals and will look for that kind of consistency in 2015 to cement his spot in the side.

What they said:

“I’ve still got a lot of areas to work on in my game but hopefully the improvement starts to show in the next few games.”

“I think my stint in the VFL at the start of the year has helped and improved my game a lot.

“I’m doing a few things a lot better than what I was doing last year and the start of this year so it’s helped me a lot.” – Talia after returning to the AFL side in April 2014.