Lauchlan Dalgleish, Ararat

Dalgleish is a speedster who makes his presence felt on a wing.

A burst player, Dalgleish bolstered his draft chances with stunning results at AFL Draft Combine in October.

The North Ballarat Rebel shone, finishing in the top five of the agility run, 20-metre sprint, 30-metre repeat sprint and clean hands tests.

He recorded a personal best in the 20-metre sprint with a time of 2.86 seconds.

Dalgleish, who kicked five goals in a match-winning performance in a rare game for the Rats this year, was surprised to receive an invite to the draft combine, having missed out on Rebels' selection as a bottom-age player in 2010.

"I didn't expect it. This time last year I trained with the Rebels and then was playing senior footy at local level," Dalgleish said.

"I didn't expect to get a game this season and at the end of the year I went to the draft combine. It was a dream come true."

The Ararat College student's running capacity was on show at Stawell Gift earlier this year. He finished third in heat 14 off a handicap of 8.25 metres.

"I've always been pretty quick through primary school and in my younger years at high school," Dalgleish said.

"After last year when I ran in the Footballers' Gift, Marcus Cooper spoke to me and we took it from there.

"It's definitely helped me. I am heaps stronger through my legs and core."

With his running a natural gift, Dalgleish switched his focus to tackling.

His goal throughout the TAC Cup season was to build on his attack on the ball carrier.

"That wasn't a strong point in my game," he said.

"I worked on it at training and got better as the year went on.

"You need to talk to the coaches more and get feedback. There's a lot more work the higher you work up."

Dalgleish, who considers himself a player in the mould of Fremantle's Stephen Hill, started playing football in Ararat's under-13 competition and made his senior debut for the Rats in Wimmera Football League in 2009.

His dad Andrew Dalgleish played football for Ararat but was more known for his cricketing prowess, while his great-grandfather Jack Clarke played a couple of games for North Melbourne.

Dalgleish said making the AFL would be overwhelming.

"It'd be awesome. You go through junior football looking up to your AFL heroes thinking it would be good to play it and now it's a chance to happen it's a bit scary," he said.

"It would be exciting to get drafted."