Ask Kieran Collins about his first AFL game and he can rattle off a list of certain, specific moments.

There’s walking through the airport after touching down in Sydney ahead of the round nine clash with the Giants, and then there’s that first possession, an intercept of a Lachie Whitfield kick intended for Giants forward Jeremy Cameron.

He can dissect the play and he even remembers who he kicked the ball to. (It was Tom Liberatore for the record).

Even now, “it’s pretty surreal”, he told westernbulldogs.com.au on the Club's second day back training for the new year. 

The second year defender averaged 16 disposals, five marks and three tackles over eleven games in the VFL for Footscray but wasn’t seen after suffering a shoulder injury in round 17 against Box Hill.

The injury robbed Collins of the chance to not only add to his senior tally, but also the opportunity to play in Footscray’s 2016 premiership side.

It’s something that burns inside the now 19-year-old.

“Missing the VFL, which I probably would have played if I didn’t do my shoulder, and obviously the AFL (premiership). I wasn’t in the side at the time but I would have loved to have played,"  he said.

“To miss both is that fire in my belly which makes me want that success that everyone else has tasted.”

Taken at pick 26 in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft, it was Collins’ size that stood out when the hulking former Dandenong Stingray arrived at Victoria University Whitten Oval.  As a 17-year-old he weighed in at 95kg but these days cuts a noticeably leaner figure.

And it’s already paying dividends -  his three rebound 50s per contest in the VFL last season was evidence of a quicker, nimbler Collins.

“I got to the Club a bit heavy, so I spoke to (Club dietitian) Claire (Saundry), and through the amount of weights we do and the training, [I looked] to lean up and drop the fat and put that muscle on.  

“I’ve probably dropped a few kilos since I started and I guess it helps with running and the endurance side of things as well.”

With fellow tall defender Joel Hamling now with the Fremantle Dockers, Collins knows a spot in the back six has potentially opened but he also knows he’ll have to work for it.

“I’m still going to be fighting with all of the other boys down there, so I’ll be looking to get a good preseason under my belt, look to crack in and hopefully make a name for myself and secure a spot in the side.”