Sitting in the victorious away rooms on Saturday afternoon at North Port Oval, you could forgive Lin Jong for pinching himself.
It had been a big 48 hours for the 21-year old.

Upgraded off the Western Bulldogs rookie list and signing a new two year deal with the Club late Thursday, then producing a best afield performance to push Footscray into the VFL Grand Final two days later.

Understandably, the midfielder was jubilant.

“They don’t come around too often [Grand Finals], and just playing with the boys, we’ve just gelled so well and we all really wanted to get in there, and we’re just stoked that we’re in there,” Jong told BulldogsTV post match.

Kicking two last quarter goals to push the result beyond doubt, Jong amassed 28 possesions, 20 of which contested, in addition to eight tackles.

While Port Melbourne’s mature midfield had been a concern entering the contest, it was Jong that was the difference for the victors.

“They had a lot of big bodies inside the midfield, and we probably got beaten up in there (early),” Jong said.

“The second half  (focus) was win the inside, isolate the forwards, get it in deep, keeping it simple.”

Having played predominantly run-with roles through midfield at both VFL and AFL levels in 2014, Saturday’s performance highlighted Jong’s line-breaking ability and explosive power.

The 190-centimetre earlier in the month placed equal ninth in the JJ Liston Trophy  - the state league’s best and fairest award.