Essendon defender Mark Baguley has credited veteran Dustin Fletcher for playing a key role in the 26-year-old’s development.

Now a permanent fixture in the Bombers’ defence, Baguley described the collaborative dynamics of the Essendon backline which also includes Cale Hooker, Michael Hibberd and Michael Hurley.

“It’s great playing with Fletch. He’s just a good bloke to have down there. If you have any questions, or anything you want to know, he is pretty approachable,” said Baguley.

“We have a lot of good guys in the backline like Hooker and Hurley. They’ve played a bit of footy now so they are experienced and they can help out the young blokes and myself as well.”

While his entry into AFL football was far from typical, Baguley revealed that hard work and self belief were the two key forces that drove him into a regular spot in the club’s senior back line.

“If you put the work in and back yourself you can do whatever you want,” said Baguley.

"I had a bit of a different pathway to most of the TAC footballers. I played a bit of TAC in the under 16 level in the development squad, but I never ended up making the team.

“I played a bit of local senior footy until I was about 21 and ended up going to the VFL for about three years and played at Frankston under Shannon Grant and Simon Goosey until I was 24.”

Despite the prolonged pathway, Baguley said his aspirations of one day making it to the big league never diminished.

 “I ended up getting drafted as a 24 year-old to Essendon which was a bit of a different pathway to the 18 year-olds these days.”

“I think the thing that helps you get selected is that you’re just a competitor. It doesn’t matter what stage of the game it is, you just give 100% and it doesn’t matter who you are playing on, you just give it your all.”

Such an attitude has accrued some great accomplishments for the lockdown defender. In 2013 he played 21 games with Essendon and was awarded as the Most Improved Player at the 2013 Crichton Medal for his consistency in shutting down some of the opposition’s best small forwards every week.  

However off the back of the club’s 53-point loss to Fremantle last Sunday, Baguley admitted that the demanding game in hot temperatures was one of the harder challenges of his playing career.

“I’ve played about 30 games now and that was one of the tougher ones having to run out in the heat,” Baguley told Sportsday Radio.

“But we had a good win against North Melbourne and we were unlucky to lose to Hawthorn but I thought we played well there. It was obviously disappointing on the weekend (against Fremantle) but it’s about getting some consistency in our game.

The Bombers face St Kilda this Saturday night at Etihad Stadium and Baguley has expressed that the Dons are ready for the exciting contest.

“We should have a pretty strong side on the weekend and we want to see as many supporters as we can at Etihad Stadium on Saturday,” Baguley said.

“We’re confident we have a good game plan, a good team, and good coaches so we are hopefully looking forward to a good season.”