It's adding up for Addison

No one was more surprised than Dylan Addison when he broke through for two senior games in his first year as a Bulldog.

Taken by the club at pick 27 in the 2005 NAB AFL National Draft, the young Sydneysider expected to cut his teeth at Werribee throughout 2006, but showed everyone he has a future in the big league with two impressive performances late in the season.

"I did surprise myself definitely," Addison says with a smile.

"I thought it would be a year where I'd have a big learning curve, but one thing that went my way in that regard - which was unfortunate - was the amount of injuries that we had toward the end of the year."

Addison's first game was the round 20 clash with Adelaide which turned out to be a memorable one as the Dogs upset the highly-fancied Crows by seven points at the MCG.

He missed out the next week, but got back in the round 22 side and impressed so much that Rodney Eade battled with the decision to drop him for the elimination final to make room for Nathan Eagleton.

Eade would later say that he had pondered dropping an out-of-sorts Farren Ray in the lead-up to the match which was a fair reflection of the impact the young New South Welshman had made.

"It was disappointing to miss out, but it was a nice to know that," Addison says of the angst regarding his omission.

"I had experienced more than I expected anyway, so I was more than happy. It was a bit unfortunate, but that's just the way it goes sometimes - it was something I just had to deal with."

"To play two games was a lot more than I expected in the first year in any case."

The fact that Addison was in such a position in the first place was due in large part to his father who encouraged his son to take up Australian Rules football at age 12 in rugby league dominated Sydney.

He says he owes a lot to the sound support system he had in his formative years in the game.

"It was really good. I played at Bankstown Football Club till I was 16 and they were really good and taught me pretty much all the fundamentals - all the learning stuff - which is really important," he recalls.

"From there I went to St George Football Club in Sydney for a couple of years where I played some senior football. It was good to play in the seniors up there, even though it's not an overly strong competition.

"It was just good to play against men and to get the feeling of what that's like. I guess a lot of 18-year-olds down here miss out on that playing in the TAC Cup, but I think playing against men is definitely a bonus."

Despite drawing the attention of national talent scouts, Addison was stunned to hear his name called out by the Dogs on draft day.

"Up until the day I was really expecting nothing. To get drafted at 27 and to the Bulldogs was a massive surprise to be honest," he says.

"Going through the draft camp I thought they'd be the least likely to be interested going on meetings and all that stuff."

Addison had to get over the initial shock of his drafting quickly because it wasn't long before the Sydneysider found himself in red-white-and-blue and taking his first tentative steps out onto Whitten Oval.

"I remember coming out for my first training and I thought it was the biggest thing ever and I was as nervous as hell," he says.

"Just seeing the other guys and how relaxed they were - it was just training to them - but it was the biggest thing in my life so far.

"You get used to it once you get to know the guys and they're all really supportive and make it a lot easier."

After an initial settling-in period, it wasn't long before Addison was knocking on the door of senior selection with the 19-year-old named as an emergency for the first time in round 12.

He ended up being an emergency eight times before he got the big call-up and he says the experience gained from those two matches will prove invaluable as he looks to increase his games tally this year.


"I was an emergency for a long while there, but luckily my chance came. It was late in the year, but it was still fantastic," he says with a laugh.

"I learnt a lot from those games mainly about how much of a mind game it is as well as a physical one. You're always thinking as you're moving - that was the big thing I got out of it."

Addison ended up being an emergency a mind-boggling 11 times in 2006 after just missing out on both finals sides. Club sources say he has been absolutely flying throughout pre-season and has added considerable bulk to his frame in an effort to make his emergency days a thing of the past.

"That's the aim - to be in the 22 in round one and to stay there," he says.

"The biggest thing I had to work on was my match fitness - that was a big thing for me over this pre-season and I've worked really hard at that I'm still building my strength, but that will come with time as I grow up."