Melbourne Football Club-affiliated side Casey Demons’ status in second with four rounds remaining has Lockhart, 22, keen to add to the two flags he won with North Launceston.

Under the watchful eye of Tasmanian coach Jade Rawlings, the former Lilydale District High and Launceston College student has played all 14 matches this season.

“The first few rounds were a pretty big wake-up call. I was struggling with the amount of kilometres and how much running you’ve got to do but I’ve slowly got used to it and my fitness has improved,” Lockhart said.

“I’ve played most games off half-back; but it depends on what AFL-listed guys are available so I’ve played a few on a wing and as an inside mid.

“I’ve enjoyed playing with and against AFL-listed guys and VFL players that are very good players in their own right – it’s just been a great experience so far.”

The 2017 Lefroy Medallist relocated to Victoria in February to advance his footy fortunes and finds himself working four to five days a week unpacking shipping containers on top of his Casey commitments, which require him to front at the club two nights a week.

Lockhart is living life similar to a professional athlete and said that his game had grown in a high-performance environment.

“Jade Rawlings and I have a pretty good relationship and most of the key backs like Cam Pedersen, Sam Frost, who have a lot of experience at the top level,” he said.

“To have people that know structures and game plans so well like Cam that you can flick on messages to and get a reply with quality answers to is so helpful.

“Pre-season is pretty heavy but through the year you’ve got your own fitness and recovery to do.

“It’s not so much a massive step up, it’s workload and commitment to programs that’s greater than back home.

“If you’ve got niggles, you’re doing everything right just so you can get up for training so you can play; there are no weeks where you don’t train and then play.”

Lockhart said he speaks to Northern Bombers coach and close mate Taylor Whitford weekly and keeps a close eye on how his former club are tracking. 

He said the biggest differences between the Tasmanian State League and the VFL were the player age profiles and the inability to hide.

“There are no 15 to 17-year-olds running around in the VFL,” he said.

“The youngest player is 19 coming out of the TAC Cup system and you just can’t switch off or sit behind the ball. Defence is all about getting up these days to pressure and forward-half turnovers are a key.

“You can’t just roll back and keep pressing up otherwise there are guys on the field yelling at you making sure that you are getting up.”

Lockhart said the success of mature-age recruits such as Geelong’s Tim Kelly and Demon Bayley Fritsch give him hope of one day playing AFL.

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