ANGUS Litherland was once told off as a junior for going to ground in a contest, from there he has developed a way to keep his feet no matter the situation.

Seven games into his AFL career after three and a half years on the list, the young defender is making the most of his opportunity and his ability to stay in the contest for second and third efforts has been one of his most impressive attributes.

Litherland played a vital role in defence in Saturday’s 29-point win over Collingwood, with another impressive performance causing headaches for Hawthorn’s match committee.

Such has been his consistent performances in his first seven games that the 21 year old would be hard done by if he found himself out of the Hawthorn side.

The strength of his game on Saturday was in his ability to impact a marking contest by spoiling his opponent, Collingwood’s Jamie Elliott, and then backing up that effort to rebound off half-back.

He is simply never out of the contest.

“A coach went off at me once for falling over so I’ve made it a habit to try and keep my feet under all circumstances,” Litherland told hawthornfc.com.au after Saturday’s win.

“Of course every now and then you’ve got to go to ground but when you can stay on your feet, you stay in the contest more often and more likely to contribute again.”

Contribute he has, with the young defender winning 15 disposals on Saturday along with six marks.

Since making his debut against Essendon in Round 2, Litherland has seamlessly slotted into Hawthorn’s defensive structure.

He has adapted well to the pace of AFL football after spending his first three seasons developing in the VFL with the club’s affiliate, Box Hill.

“There are a few guys in my position such as Mitch Hallahan, Derick Wanganeen, Will Langford and guys like that who have been around for a while now and we’ve learnt all the basics, it’s a matter of now taking it into the AFL games,” he said.

“It’s another step up, everything is quicker, the players are quicker and stronger and it’s just applying those skills we’ve learnt under more pressure.

“Because we’ve learnt the basics so well, when the time comes and the situations arise, we’re able to adapt to it.”

He has grown in stature with each game but one performance in particular has given him the confidence that he has what it takes to play at the game’s top level.

Litherland’s performance in the narrow win over GWS had many identifying him as a player likely to forge an AFL career.

In that game it was again his repeat efforts and ability to shut down gun GWS forward Jeremy Cameron by winning crucial one-on-one battles and rebounding forward.

Undoubtedly, he was one of the reasons the Hawks were able to record a victory.

It was an out of the blue performance by a young man who received a late call-up due to injury to teammate Ben Stratton.

His performance won praise from the club’s leaders – Captain Luke Hodge and Vice-captains Jordan Lewis and Jarryd Roughead – the players he has admired since arriving at the Hawks.

“I was just happy to have made a contribution,” Litherland said of his performance against the Giants.

“I hold my teammates I play with in such high regard like ‘Hodgey’, ‘Lewie’ and ‘Roughy’ because they’ve done it for so long and to get the appraisal from them, that they were happy with how I played, it was something that meant a lot to me.

“To have come into an AFL game as a late inclusion and play my role and play it fairly well, I was just rapt with that appraisal from the leaders of the group.

“It gives me confidence in knowing that it doesn’t matter what’s ahead, I can face it.

“But it’s not just me by myself out there, there are teammates out there that I can rely on and who can rely on me.”