JOBE Shanahan was warned that the step up might be difficult.

But the higher the level got this year, the better Shanahan played.

In his own words, the developing key forward "started slowly" with the Bendigo Pioneers. But he began finding his groove with the AFL Academy side, played better for the Allies, then took over matches at senior level with his local team, Moama.

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However, when he was asked to fill in for Essendon's VFL program across a month-long stretch through August, playing against bigger bodies and AFL-listed opposition, the people close to Shanahan wanted to temper his own expectations.

"You get told it's pretty hard to play a key forward role in the VFL," he told AFL.com.au.

They need not have worried.

Shanahan, an athletic 194cm goalkicker who has emerged as one of the draft's best key forward prospects, kicked four goals on debut against the Northern Bullants. He followed it with two more against Gold Coast, then completed a rout against Coburg with another five majors.

"I really, really loved it," Shanahan said of his VFL experience.

"Obviously, I didn't think I was going to go in and play the greatest footy. I just went in with an open mind and to see how I went. I got on the end of some and just got better as I went.

"The second game, against Gold Coast, it was nearly my best. I was competing really hard and I was getting up the ground and taking big marks on the wing. It was good. The last game, I was in good positions and just got hit up well.

"The delivery is obviously a lot better as well. And you get rewarded a bit more for your effort. If you work your arse off in the VFL, you'll get rewarded by getting the footy. Whereas in the [Coates] Talent League, you might not."

Shanahan felt at home with Essendon, having roomed with Xavier Duursma last summer when he spent a week of pre-season training with the Bombers as part of the AFL's Academy program.

But his stint with the club's VFL affiliate made him feel like he belonged. It was the culmination of a top-age campaign where goals followed Shanahan, putting him at the forefront of recruiters' minds ahead of a national draft where he now looms as a potential top 20 pick.

"The higher level of footy I play, I think I play better footy," Shanahan said.

"I've been playing seniors since I was 15, so I've got a bit of a feel for it now. I know my place when I'm playing senior footy. Even in the VFL, I wasn't the tallest forward. It was good to be able to get the second or third defender."

Shanahan kicked 23 goals from 11 games with Bendigo – including bags of five against the Dandenong Stingrays and six against the Murray Bushrangers throughout the season's run-in – and finished his under-18 carnival with three goals from 16 disposals and nine marks against a talented Vic Country team.

But he arguably had the most fun playing with Moama, even though his dreams of a Murray Football League premiership fell tantalisingly short when a Shanahan-inspired Magpies side copped a heartbreaking two-point defeat to Finley in a dramatic preliminary final.

"I just wanted to win, really. I didn't care how I played," Shanahan said.

"I kicked a goal with about a minute left and we were up and about, celebrating that hard. But then they threw it up in the middle, they got a clearance to their 50m line, they took a mark and the umpire blows the whistle and calls a 50m penalty to the goal square.

"They kicked the goal, threw the ball up in the middle and the siren goes. It was shattering, bloody oath. We've lost three preliminary finals in a row now. It was such a stitch-up."

Fortunately, Shanahan had the perfect way to take his mind off the deflating Moama defeat. A couple of days later, he had organised a coffee catchup through mutual friends with Richmond's triple-premiership captain Trent Cotchin. It was his chance to pick the brain of someone who had been in his position before.

The former No.2 pick from the 2007 draft had long been destined for the Tigers, but shared his insights with Shanahan on the draft process and how to handle a series of gruelling club interviews in the lead-up to the big night.

"I just tried to take in as much as I could, really," Shanahan said.

"He just told me about how he went about his top-age year and all the stuff like that. He was rated a bit higher than me. He came into the combine and didn't have many meetings. I was just trying to take in as much as I could and learn from it.

"He just said in these meetings, act like yourself. Don't try and be cocky. Don't throw yourself at them. If a club really wants you, they'll take you. You don't have to hype yourself up or anything like that, because they might think you're cocky. I'm just trying to be myself."

Shanahan is hopeful that attitude – and his football – will propel him to being drafted inside the first round next month. For clubs in need of an athletic and mobile goalkicking key forward, he is now among the front of the queue.

"I wanted to have a year like this," Shanahan said.

"Obviously, at the start of the year, I thought I'd come in and be playing better footy. But for at least the first two or three rounds of the season, I wasn't. I just had to work a lot harder.

"With the Academy, you get a bit of pressure on you. You have to play good footy. I maybe just thought it would happen, but I had to work a lot harder for it to happen. But I got better as I went. By the last game, I was playing my best footy for the year."