PERHAPS the brightest aspect of another bleak day for the Western Bulldogs on Saturday was the performances of teenage debutants Jason Johannisen and Michael Talia.
 
Both 19-year-olds acquitted themselves well from the outset and it wouldn't surprise if both enjoy long careers at AFL level.
 
The pacy Johannisen became the third elevated rookie to debut for the Bulldogs this season and his effort - 17 touches, four clearances and five inside 50s - would have left many people scratching their heads about how he could have been overlooked at AFL drafts.

WATCH highlights from Michael Talia and Jason Johannisen's debut game on the media player above.
 
The athletic Talia, meanwhile, always appeared destined for the big time. His football pedigree goes back 85 years at the club - a history few, if any, current players can boast.
 
He and older brother Daniel, who has played 26 games for Adelaide, are grandsons of Harvey Stevens, a ruckman in the Bulldogs' only premiership side in 1954.

They are also great-grandsons of Arthur Stevens, another big man, who played 64 games for the Bulldogs from 1927-32 after making his debut at 28.
 
Talia mightn't have been anywhere near as old as his great-grandfather was when he played his first game, but he received a late call-up nonetheless. He replaced Tom Williams, who was a late withdrawal.
 
Talia was woken at 9.30am on Saturday by the familiar beep of his mobile phone, which signaled an incoming text message.
 
"I was fast asleep and then I heard my phone go," he told AFL.com.au after the game.
 
"[The text] said I was a chance to play. I thought, 'Jesus!'
 
"I didn't know what was happening, but I was on the way here (Etihad Stadium) in the car and about 15 minutes away I got a call. It was 'Macca' (Coach Brendan McCartney). He said, 'You're playing today.'
 
"I didn't really have too much time to think about it, which was probably a good thing because I didn't have to worry about dealing with nerves the night before."
 
Talia was told he would likely oppose Roos forwards Lachie Hansen and Robbie Tarrant.
 
"My brother has played on both of those guys before so I'm disappointed I didn't get to speak to him about them before the game," he said.
 
Talia spent the majority of the match on Hansen, keeping him to 14 touches and a goal, and just a few minutes on Tarrant.
 
He also managed to kick a goal himself - his first major at any level in two years. (He'd slotted his previous goal as a bottom-age player for TAC Cup club Calder Cannons).
 
Talia's method is to play the percentages, work within his limitations and focus largely on nullifying his opponent.

But on this occasion he took the game on and the result was an inspirational goal. It was a great effort for a youngster not highly regarded for his kicking.
 
It came from the third of his seven kicks and leveled the scores late in in the first quarter.
 
At the time, Talia was briefly manning up Drew Petrie and burst away from the North spearhead to kick truly from 45 metres. He was then mobbed by up to a dozen teammates.
 
"Brian Lake was telling me where to position myself and the ball just got kicked out by a North player and it was in my path and I managed to grab it, slip a tackle and float it through," he said.
 
Talia started cramping late in the second quarter, but fought through it to play 89 per cent of the game.
 
"I found it to be a massive step up from VFL level - it's so fanatical, a lot faster, and you have to make really quick decisions and dispose of the ball earlier. But I think I'll adjust to it pretty quickly," he said.

The Dogs have now blooded six first-gamers this season - the others being Clay Smith, mature-age recruit Tory Dickson, Tom Campbell and Daniel Pearce - each of whom played against the Kangaroos.
 
McCartney is excited by their prospects.
 
"A bit's been written that some clubs are debuting a lot of players. I think we've introduced six or seven first-game players, but we also tend to keep playing them for four, five, six weeks; we don't just give them a look and then put them out," he said.
 
Of Talia and Johannisen, McCartney said: "They both showed what they're going to be, I think."