Western Bulldogs defender James O’Donnell says his priority is playing consistent football.

After being signed as a Category B Rookie from a cricket background, the 22-year-old has earned recent plaudits for his accelerated development, particularly his 18 disposals and 11 marks against Gold Coast.

Speaking to Daniel Harford on RSN Radio, the 35-gamer said he never placed any expectations on himself – instead taking a week-by-week approach to his learning.

“To be honest I didn’t really have many expectations at the start (of my career),” O’Donnell said.

“I didn’t have the runs on the board so to speak or anything like that, so I was just looking to learn and get better, and each week hope that that came out in the game. 

“I’m very lucky I’ve got some great guys around me to help (my development). I do a lot of work with Liam Jones – just talking about the game, our opponents, body work and things like that. My line coach Daniel Pratt has been huge too since he got to the Club.

“I feel like (Pratt) knows me really well now and we’re able to have good conversations. He knows how I’m best coached and how I can get better. 

“I think from a development point of view…I just wanted to crack in, be a sponge, ask lots of questions and just see what happens.

“I’d hope to think I’m developing at the right pace and showing some glimpses – now it’s just about doing it on a consistent basis at AFL level.”

The Bulldogs will meet Geelong in a Thursday night battle at GMHBA Stadium this week before heading into a bye weekend.

O’Donnell said they’ll have to bring their best footy. 

“I’d like to think our brand of footy is pretty physical and strong in the contest. We’re hoping for that again (on Thursday),” he said.

“Geelong are a really good team…we’ve got our work cut out and will have to play well to get the result we want. 

“I think more than anything it’s a big game for us, going into the bye…we’d love to end this first half of this year with a win.

“They’re going to make it pretty hard for us, but I think we’re in the right position to come out on the right end.”