Defender Fletcher Roberts has been unassumingly growing in confidence and standing at the Club since being drafted in 2012, and the driven Dog has no plans to stop.

After beginning his career up forward, Roberts now calls the backline home and it’s his reliability the 21-year-old wants be known for.

“Everyone loves a consistent defender that you can rely on most weeks, every week, so I am really just trying to focus on playing my role for the team each week and into the future,” Roberts said.

“[I have to] make sure that I am defending first because that is my role and beating the bigger blokes, which I have been trying to do consistently and getting that right.

“Off the back of that making sure I am rebounding the ball with intensity, speed and execution so that we can hurt them off the back of good defence.

“It really works on my leadership capabilities… and leadership voice in the backline.”

The 21-year-old’s competitive nature makes him a natural fit for the back six, while his size and strength helps him to compete against the league’s powerhouse forwards.

“I don’t like to get beaten too often as a big defender and I think just reading the ball has been a strength of mine throughout a lot of my footy and is becoming a highlight of my defensive positioning this year,” he said.

“I am able to adjust my positioning a lot quicker which is good, because I am not as big as some of the forwards – so they can’t out body me too easily.”

Roberts has set his sight on improving his endurance and fitness over the pre-season, as well as the “ruthless side of his defensive game”.

Heading into his fourth season on the Bulldogs list, the 21-year-old hopes developing that area of his game will help with his repeat efforts and competing under fatigue.