After being taken with the second overall selection in last year's Rookie Draft, Magpies defender Charlie Dean now firms as a chance to make his AFL debut less than four months after joining Collingwood.
Having impressed with Williamstown in the VFL last year, earning the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal as the competition's best young player for 2021, Dean had conjured a chance to join the top flight after missing out in his draft year two years prior.
The Sandringham Dragons product faced a familiar reality in not having his name called in the National Draft last November, however the Magpies were quick to swoop on his services that same week as a Rookie selection on the Friday succeeding the draft.
Rated as a formidable and ready-made defender who is capable of playing multiple roles down back, Dean also boasts the ability to feature in the attacking third of the ground, having initially developed as a key-position forward.
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Since moving into defence, Dean has quickly risen through the ranks of the NAB League and VFL, also earning a place in last season's Team of the Year for his stellar efforts with the Seagulls.
Having been able to transition his best traits to the Holden Centre, Dean has begun to turn heads in his short spell with the Magpies.
His aptitude to contend with both tall and small opposing forwards has placed Dean as a chance to make a senior appearance under senior coach Craig McRae this year, with a recent shoulder injury to veteran defender Jordan Roughead amplifying Collingwood's potential reliance on Dean at AFL level.
With Roughead set to miss the opening rounds after undergoing shoulder surgery, Dean frames as a potential replacement for the former Bulldog, with skipper Scott Pendlebury stating the 20-year-old will be ready for a call-up should McRae look his way.
"He's come in, he's fitted in, he's picked up the system we want to play," Pendlebury told Zero Hanger on Wednesday.
"He's a great character and I think that holds him in really good stead. He's a willing learner.
"You never know if you're really ready for AFL, but there's one way to find out, it's [getting] thrown into the fire and seeing how they go.
"He'll be ready when his name gets called, and hopefully it's Round 1 for him."
The Magpies are set to begin their tenure under McRae on March 18 against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium in what will commence a highly-anticipated campaign at Magpieland.
Collingwood have looked ring the changes this pre-season, with Pendlebury joining Dean as part of McRae's rearguard for the season ahead.
After 334 games predominantly playing in midfield, the 34-year-old is set for a new role at half-back in 2022.
With McRae inheriting a new wave of onballers set to rise through the ranks, Pendlebury confirmed his new role ahead of the season, where he will share his workload between defence and midfield.
"I'll be playing a bit more back this year," Pendlebury confirmed.
"With guys like Brayden Maynard, 'Crispy' (Jack Crisp), Nicky Daicos getting more time in the midfield, I'll go to halfback a bit more and there'll still be times where I'll go through the midfield but yeah, my role will be back and mid."
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The five-time Copeland Trophy winner revealed he has relished his time down back so far this pre-season, a transition that has crossed his mind in recent years.
"It's hard having to defend someone," Pendlebury laughed. "I haven't had to do that too many times.
"I really enjoy playing behind the ball. It's something that I've actually wanted to do for a long period of time.
"To get that opportunity for a whole pre-season and train down there ... to learn a new role and to sort of put my head down and get to work and watch some guys around the league how they play that position and really learn ... that's been exciting."
Magpies fans will get their first look at a McRae-led Magpies outfit when they travel to regional Victoria later this month to play Hawthorn in Morwell, before their AAMI Community Series clash with the Giants on March 6 in Western Sydney.