Second-year Roo Corey Wagner is enjoying a change to his role after spending more time in the midfield.

After a first season predominantly as a small forward, the 20-year-old collected 26 disposals for Werribee on the weekend splitting his time between the wing and the forward 50.

“I was more wing in the first half and then forward in the second half,” Wagner explained to NMFC.com.au.

“It gives the coaches a bit more of a look at what I can do and mixing the game up.”

Development coach David Loader was a keen onlooker of Wagner’s game for Werribee on the weekend, taking plenty of positives out of it.

“He looked like he was up and about and played with real enthusiasm and intent,” Loader said.

“He set up well at stoppages and was clean when he had the ball in his hands.”

A challenge of a new role is learning the subtle intricacies. For Wagner, that’s no different but the coaches are enthused by his progress.

“It’s (about learning) positioning around stoppages when he’s playing a wing role, and then his role changes when he goes forward in playing that mid-forward role,” Loader explained.

“He’s doing a lot of the donkey work if you like, getting up the ground and back again. It’s a combination of roles for him but he does them both relatively well so it’s good.”

Being able to mix the ‘donkey work’ with his skills on the outside of the pack will make Wagner a well-rounded player, and a pre-season filled with hard work has helped him so far.

“Putting on a few more kilos helps against the bigger bodies,” Wagner said.

“With my leaner body, I can do the inside stuff and then get outside of them, running harder there.

“That’s where my strengths are, the outside running, handball receives and inside 50 kicks.

“This week I tried to use a bit of that, but also keeping the pressure and hard work.

“I was hunting the ball more, and it worked out really well.

“I was a lot more cleaner with my handball receives and inside 50 kicks were a strength.

“I was able to set up a couple and kick a couple because of that.”

Looking forward to the future, Wagner can see a time where being able to play both midfield and forward helps his prospects of an AFL recall.

“Hopefully I’m going to keep doing both and keep my options open.

“Then if something does open up in the ones either forward or on a wing, it adds another string to the bow.”

“Hopefully I showed last week that I can do what I need to do while doing the grunt work and hopefully I can get a look in in the weeks to come.”