Persistence has paid off for two young Western Bulldogs with Senior Coach Brendan McCartney confirming Mitch Honeychurch and Sam Darley would debut against Melbourne on Sunday.

Strong VFL form earned the duo an elevation to the senior side, with Honeychurch set for his first AFL appearance, while Darley will play his first game in Bulldogs colours after debuting at GWS.

WATCH: Replay highlights of Mitch Honeychurch's three goal VFL performance against Collingwood last Sunday.

“Sam Darley and Mitch Honeychurch will both play their first games – first game for Mitch and Sam’s first game at our Club,” McCartney said.

“That’s great recognition for what they have done for eight or nine weeks now.”

The emergence of Sam Darley as a rebounding defender has seen him press for selection for a number of weeks and he will receive reward for effort come Sunday. 

With 13 games under his belt playing for GWS Giants, the 21-year-old is not foreign to the demands of AFL and his run and carry will bolster the Bulldogs back six.

WATCH: Replay highlights and analysis of Sam Darley's recent VFL performances.

Adding value up forward for Footscray in the VFL, Honeychurch has averaged almost four goals in his past three outings and will aim to bring that form into his debut game.

But McCartney also noted Honeychurch’s ability to bring teammates into games – evidenced last week in the VFL when he kicked three goals but also had two assists.

“[Mitch will bring] energy, he’s competitive, he’s a goal kicker – he just plays footy at a great intensity and that has a habit of catching on with people around him,” he said.

Sharing the good news with Honeychurch yesterday afternoon, McCartney said that element of coaching was one of the most rewarding.

“I got one of the other coaches who does most of the work with him to ring him – we do that a bit,” he said.

“There’s one coach in particular who’s really pushed for him hard all year and has done an enormous of work for him so I let him ring him and I followed up.

“It was just a nice reminder, I rang him on the way home at about 5:30pm, I know he has a great relationship with his dad, very close relationship… and his dad walked in as I was speaking and he couldn’t wait to tell him.”

McCartney said the Club was not putting lofty expectations on the young forward in his first game.

“We are looking forward to Mitch playing, we don’t expect anything grand from him but we are confident we have found a really good long term player,” he said.