Jake Patmore had a decision to make.

Was he prepared to knuckle down and drop some excess weight, or was he willing to risk his shot at making it onto an AFL list?   

Entering his draft season, Patmore tipped the scales at 81kg and knew he "just wasn't getting the run" he needed.

So, after some frank conversations about his fitness, the 181cm Claremont midfielder got to work. 

"At the start of the year I had to lose quite a few kilos. I was a bit chubby and had to get my skinfolds down," Patmore told AFL.com.au. 

"I’ve lost nine or 10 kilos, and I’m feeling a whole lot lighter on my feet and I’ve lost about 30 points in skinfolds.

"It wasn’t so much eating bad foods, it was just eating too much.

"I had to take that back and now I’ve got a routine with what I eat."

Long-time AFL assistant coach Peter Sumich immediately saw Patmore's potential when he took over WA's under-18s team this year. 

The talented youngster has the ability to open up matches with his vision, evasive skills and kicking through midfield and across half-back.

But Patmore, who admires Western Bulldogs star Jason Johannisen's dash and dare, needed to know making the grade at the top level took a ton of hard work.

"We had a word to him. We just said 'whether you're fair dinkum or not, it’s up to you how far you want to go'," Sumich told AFL.com.au. 

"I queried him on his skinfolds because I said 'at AFL level mate you wouldn't get a go'.

"To his credit the kid - over six or seven weeks - just went bang and lost all this weight."

The proof of Patmore's diligence was in the pudding during the NAB AFL Under-18s Championships.

He averaged nearly 23 disposals and four tackles, and clicked into top gear in WA's last game with a 32-disposal effort in the triumph over Vic Country. 

But Patmore really exploded upon his return to Claremont's colts side.

In the second half of the season he had leather poisoning, racking up 39, 42 and 48-disposal games to help guide two-time defending premiers Claremont into Sunday's Grand Final against East Fremantle. 

He could be in the frame as a late-round draft selection or rookie this year, and will be out to impress recruiters at next month's national combine. 

Like almost all AFL hopefuls, Patmore, who grew up in Broome before moving to Perth midway through primary school, is prepared to relocate if he has to leave home to chase his dream. 

If he was picked up by either South Australian club there would be the added bonus of being closer to his father, who lives in Adelaide. 

Nigel Patmore has always encouraged his son's love of sport, and was a talented sportsman in his own right who represented Australia in hockey at the 1984 Olympic Games and scored a goal in a losing bronze medal match against Great Britain.

"Apparently he was one of the best penalty flickers," Patmore said.

"They were the favourites going into those Olympics I’m pretty sure and then they just got cocky and didn’t even get into the medals.

"I played hockey until under-12s. Footy took over and it was a bit more of a passion for me than hockey was. It was definitely fun while it lasted.

"(Dad) wanted me to continue, but he didn’t really care he just wanted me to have fun doing what I’m doing.

"If I had to move (interstate to play AFL) it would be a new challenge I guess. I wouldn’t mind it all.

"It’s a career I want to take and I’d do anything to get there."