SEVEN years ago Luke Breust strapped on the helmet he always wore when playing football or rugby league.

 

He was about to play in a Grand Final with the Sydney Swans reserves team.

 

The No.50 jumper went over his head and hung off his 70-kilogram frame.

 

Alongside Breust in the warm-up that day were a bunch of Sydney youngsters who had travelled together on a bus to Canberra's Manuka Oval.

 

No-names the lot of them.

 

Nick Smith, Jesse White, Heath Grundy (who had actually played an AFL game at that stage), Sam Rowe, Jonathan Simpkin, Craig Bird and Breust jogged on the spot preparing to take on Queanbeyan.

 

In the corner watching on was Kieren Jack, an injured player with a famous surname.

 

He had played his first two senior games that season.

 

A few hours later Breust had a premiership medal in Swans colours, after kicking one goal to be among the team's best players as they defeated Queanbeyan by 28 points.

 

"In the premiership photo he (Jack) is standing up the back but he didn't play that year because he was injured," Breust told AFL.com.au

 

Five players involved in that game plus Jack will play in AFL preliminary finals this weekend, while the eight (including Jack) in Canberra on that September day have played 799 AFL games between them since.   

 

Breust, who was driven to the game from his hometown of Temora, has now played in a Hawthorn premiership.

 

On Tuesday night he became the 19th NSW-born player to be named All Australian.

 

His selection came on the back of 53 goals in the home and away season, at least one goal in every game, and a famous streak of 29 goals without kicking a behind, an effort that equalled the record held by the game's greatest goalkicker Tony Lockett. He also spent more time in the midfield than he had previously.

 

Breust arrived at Hawthorn at the end of 2008 and weighed in at 70.5 kilograms. He couldn't help but notice newly anointed premiership players 'Buddy' Franklin, Jarryd Roughead, Sam Mitchell and Cyril Rioli in the locker room.

 

"You do wonder how you are going to fit in and I guess crack it into a side that has just come off a premiership year," Breust said.

 

Breust immediately made an impression with his lateral step, a result of a growing up in Temora, a small town in the Riverina, where he played rugby league as often as Aussie rules. 

 

He still does it now, switching the hips to leave defenders clutching at air.

 

"I played a lot of touch football growing up and you have to be pretty agile in that sort of game to even look like scoring a try," Breust said.

 

Breust had played rugby league from the age of six and started playing AFL as soon as Auskick started.

 

He combined both sports until Hawthorn invited him to train for a week before placing him on its rookie list in 2009.

 

His time in that other game can be seen in the way he plays football, tucking the ball under the arm, taking high chest marks and fending off opponents with a straight arm. He does, if you watch him closely, play in unique fashion.

 

"I think the fend off comes from the rugby league game as well. Instinctively I probably do that more than a lot of AFL players do because if you can't break tackles in rugby league it makes it pretty hard to score and convert," Breust said.

 

He concedes it is natural for him to grab chest marks high rather than low near the belly.

 

"I played a lot of my rep rugby at either full-back or in the centre or one of those positions. As a full-back you normally have a lot of pressure coming from the attacking side so to be able to take it [the football] up a little bit higher is somewhat of a benefit in rugby league," Breust said.

 

Such attributes however weren't so obvious when he played his first game for Box Hill reserves in round two, 2009. Because of his light frame Breust admits he was totally reliant on crumbing packs and winning loose balls.

 

"Early on I felt like I was getting thrown around and getting pushed out of contest and I was purely relying on a small forward grafting off the pack…so to be able to change that and take a contested mark or a one-on-one mark has been critical to getting opportunities in front of goal," Breust said.

 

He rectified the issue with extra weights, taking every chance that presented to get into the gymnasium and he put on seven kilograms in his first season. His weight now sits around 80 kilograms.

 

In 2010, he began to play more consistent VFL football and in round eight, 2011 he was named as the substitute in the seniors.

 

He kicked 30 goals in that first season but was dropped after the qualifying final loss to Geelong. It stung.

 

"I think that motivated me even more to go on and do what I have done in the last few seasons," Breust said.

 

Former Hawthorn assistant coach and now senior coach with the Giants, Leon Cameron, told AFL.com.au that Breust only needed to work out what he needed to do to make it and then commit to doing the work to reach the standard he has reached. 

 

"This guy made a clear decision to back up the talent that he inherited, that he has been lucky enough to be given, and he made it pretty quickly," Cameron said.

 

"He had some tricks. It was just a matter of him not being a hit and miss player."

 

This season Breust hardly missed, going from a will he/won't he player in front of the sticks to someone you put in the book before he kicked.

 

He has kicked 169 goals in 89 games and gone from 30.15 in 2011, 45.25 in 2012, 40.30 in 2013 and an amazing 54.11 so far this season. He has kicked at least one goal in his past 30 games.

 

"It's just repetition pretty much," Breust said when asked how he had improved his accuracy.

 

"I knew that I had a sound technique in terms of my routine and if anything the only tweak we had was for long shots."

 

He now carries more momentum through the football when kicking from around the 50-metre mark, but otherwise backs himself when in range. Most of it, he says, is the confidence that comes when hard work yields results.

 

"It's certainly been pleasing to transfer from pre-season work to converting my opportunities," Breust said.

 

That opportunity was small but it was enough for him to grab with both hands.

 

It is an opportunity another Temora product, Jake Barrett, who shares both an uncle with Breust and the ability to play league and AFL, is hoping to take with Greater Western Sydney.

 

Breust is watching his progress with interest and talks to Barrett regularly.

 

"On-field he doesn't look quick and doesn't look like he runs all day but he tests well and he is pretty quick so I'm sure he'll turn into a player," Breust said.

 

Cameron likes what he has seen of Barrett too.

 

"Jake's running ability is the same as Luke [and he is] good one-on-one," Cameron said. "He can be a bit of an antagoniser on-field too. He's progressing really well as he came from rugby."

Both are related to Trent Barrett, a former rugby league star and Dally M medal winner. 

 

Barrett will know from watching Breust that things don't happen overnight.

 

But when they do start to click it amounts to plenty.

 

Breust just extended his contract with the Hawks until the end of 2017, taking his tenure beyond when he would have been eligible for free agency.

 

Managed by the small but respected O.M.P Sports Management in Sandringham – who he says have been good for him because they provide him with a genuine relationship that looks beyond football – he says it wasn't hard to reach agreement with the Hawks.

 

His decision to go beyond the free agency timetable was just a small way of repaying the faith the club had in him initially, the one-year deals coming one after the other.

 

Not only does Breust love the club, he thinks the young group can have sustained success.

 

"I've loved it here. I'll continue to have fun here and play footy and I guess I'm playing with some of my best mates and that is all that matters really," Breust said.

 

Breust might have arrived but he hasn't changed.

 

Hear him talk about how he felt when his brother Mark played in a premiership for Temora last Saturday and you have an insight into Breust's make-up.

 

"To finally get one…I was stoked for him," Breust said.

 

He has the type of qualities few watching him play for Sydney Swans reserves as a 17-year-old would have known about: heart, desire and a work ethic. Once the quiet kid was slotted into a good program he improved. 

 

"I guess it was a great little process, did my apprenticeship at the VFL level and then I got my chance and grabbed that with both hands," Breust said.

 

"I think it is all I needed."

 

Cameron agrees: "He's helped round out his game in all parts year on year and I think it is a credit to his upbringing."

 

On Saturday he plays in his third consecutive preliminary final.