Tom Campbell has been an imposing force in the ruck for the Footscray Bulldogs this season and his recent purple patch sees him continue to demand attention from the Club’s match committee.

Named as an emergency six times this season, the rotating ruck/forward has accumulated 117 hitouts from his past two VFL games alone, impressing Development Coach Ashley Hansen.

“Tom this year so far has been outstanding in his ruckwork and his consistency of performance has really been a highlight,” Hansen said.

“As he has evolved through the course of the year his application to each game has been outstanding and has had some consistent form and has really pushed for senior selection.”

His dominance in the ruck has been obvious, averaging 42 hitouts per game, while he has also been a consistent contributor on the scoreboard with ten goals for the year.

Hansen said the catalyst of the 22-year-old’s improvement was a solid pre-season, putting himself in the best possible position for the year ahead.

“The two key components to Tom’s success this year has been his durability and definitely his application to pre-season,” he said.

“He went away to Colorado and then didn’t miss a beat over summer… he has really applied himself and probably taken his professionalism to a new level.

“A real focus for him was to build his body to be not only stronger but also be aerobically stronger so he can get around the ground and get to more contests and be stronger in his ruck duals.”

Another component in Campbell’s development has been improving his forward craft and forging a partnership with fellow tall Ayce Cordy rotating between the ruck and attack.

“[Campbell and Cordy] have really formed a good relationship in regards to being able to give them the licence to change on field together and spend time between those two roles.

“I would like to think the relationship that we are nurturing in the VFL will carry on for years to come.”