Resilience and hard work were the keys to Michael Talia's return to senior football after the Western Bulldogs defender began his season in the VFL.

The 21-year-old sprang onto the AFL scene last season with nine senior appearances and a NAB Rising Star nomination in round 15.

Touted as a future key pillar in the Bulldogs' defence, Talia is aiming to re-produce the highs of 2013.

Coach Brendan McCartney had noticed some deficiencies in Talia's game, mainly his defensive pressure, and wanted the young defender to further develop his craft with Footscray.

After doing that for the first four rounds of the season, Talia got his opportunity in round five against Carlton, when injury claimed key defenders Jordan Roughead and Dale Morris.

"Obviously it's a harsh and brutal industry," Talia told AFL.com.au this week.

"I knew if I just stayed resilient and worked hard and kept chipping away with Brendan, which is what I did, hopefully it all takes care of itself. 

"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. "

The 21-year-old has worked closely with McCartney, rigorously reviewing tape after tape, and says his confidence wasn't rocked when he found out he would be spending the first part of the season in the VFL.

"I think my stint in the VFL at the start of the year has helped and improved my game a lot," Talia said.

"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."

Defender Dale Morris said recently that he saw similarities between himself and Talia, and has helped his young teammate to improve his defensive pressure and work rate off the ball.

"I've definitely tapped into 'Mozz' over the first three years," Talia said.

"If I could become half the player Dale was I'd be absolutely ecstatic. He's a fantastic player and I just try to tap into his knowledge of the game.

"I'm always training to do weights with him and sneak around and see what he does and try and emulate the actions that he puts in place throughout the week."

Morris has missed the past two games through suspension and an ankle injury, and could return for Saturday night's clash against Essendon.

Talia hoped his improvement would see him retain his spot in the side, even if Morris returns.