HIS DREADLOCKS might indicate a flamboyant and extroverted personality, but Andrejs Everitt is anything but.

The shy 18-year-old, who joined the club via last year's draft, believes the best part of becoming a Bulldog has been the way his teammates have coaxed out of hiding a new side to his personality.

"All the boys down here are really friendly. I'm a pretty quiet guy, but they get a bit out of me, which is good," Everitt told westernbulldogs.com.au.

"We had a bad loss on the weekend, but everyone is still happy enough and we just keep looking forward to the weekend."

Having found more of a voice at the club, Everitt is also looking for ways to cope with the pace of the game at the highest level. However, he feels he is advancing, after just a trio of senior appearances.

"It's been okay, and I'm still trying to find my feet a little bit with the game and how fast it is," he said.

"I feel like I'm getting there slowly. I just go out there and try and do my bit for the team, and that's all you've got to try and do.

"The boys have been really welcoming into the team, which is really good, and they've helped me along and got my confidence up early in the games, which is good."

It was just over a year ago that Everitt almost lost his desire to play the game after enduring some personality clashes at the Dandenong Stingrays where he was playing under 18s.

But his selection for the Vic Metro side changed all that, and his passion for the sport was suddenly reignited. 

"My attitude towards football has changed the most in the past 12 months," he said.

"Last year, I didn't play too well at the start of the year and I wasn't going that good and I was having second thoughts about it.

"Then I came to Vic Metro and I got a little bit more confidence up. Being drafted also gave me a little bit more confidence, knowing that I can play football. It's been good like that."

There was understandably hype surrounding Everitt's drafting last season, owing to the fact his older brother is none other than experienced ruckman Peter, aka “Spida” Everitt.

It was a hype that didn't worry the younger sibling. Now that he has broken into his own senior side and is forging a career in his own right, Everitt just hopes people will look at him as Andrejs, and not "Peter's little brother".

"You just sort of don't worry about it. You are your own person, and I know that I'm mainly recognised as Peter's brother, but eventually I just want to be known as my own player," he said.

"We're different players anyway. He's bigger and a ruckman, and I'm the running defender.

"He hasn't really given me advice, because we're two different people, but he's just told me to go out there and enjoy it and have a bit of fun and don't go chasing kicks, and it will all work out."

The 15-year age difference between the brothers has meant Andrejs has grown up watching Peter play AFL. It has also meant high expectations were placed on him from a young age.

"I don't think the expectations have been that big on me in the AFL; it was more in my younger days, in under 15s and 16s," he said.

"I always got recognised, and if I wasn't playing good, then people would get up me and say, "You're meant to be good because you're Peter's brother".

"But it's not too bad in the AFL."

But, the fact he has been able to watch Peter play since he was three years old has been a positive experience for Everitt, as he has always known just what to expect from an AFL career.

"It was probably a good thing to be able to watch him and get an understanding of the game really early," he said.

"That's probably made my progression in the AFL a lot easier."

So can we expect Everitt's hairstyle – which currently consists of shoulder-length dreads – to change as often as his brother's has?

"I don't think so. This will come off at the end of the year and then it will just be normal," he said.

"I'd rather get it off."