ANDREW Hooper has revealed he arrived at pre-season training overweight and that a heart-to-heart chat with coach Rodney Eade was the catalyst for his return to the senior line-up.

The 20-year-old burst into senior football last year when he became just the 33rd player in VFL/AFL history to debut in a final when he faced the Sydney Swans in the Western Bulldogs' winning semi-final at the MCG.

He didn't hold his spot the following week, and had not been sighted at senior level until a fortnight ago, when he returned against Melbourne.

The boy from Ballarat said he only had himself to blame for why it had taken so long to get that second AFL match under his belt.

"I had a slow start in the pre-season and I came back the wrong way. I didn't pass the skinfolds test, which showed I didn't do enough while we were away," he said this week.

"I kept training but I didn't recognise I was overweight. I should have done an extra bit to keep my body in shape."

It was Eade who came to Hooper in the days after they resumed to tell the former rookie he had presented in unsuitable fashion.

"He was disappointed in me," Hooper recalled.

"For him to come to me and tell me he was disappointed showed that he really wanted me to get back to where I was.

"From there, it was a big wake up call for me. I took it on the chin, I knew what to do and got onto it straight away."

With Hooper's naturally stocky frame, he admitted it had always been tough to consistently hit the required skinfold targets but hadn't helped himself by eating the wrong foods.

Now, after receiving the rude shock, he has taken stock of what he needs to do to ensure he stays on top of it and has realised being a professional athlete is a "52-week a year" commitment.

He was given a diet plan, and has stuck to it since, despite the fact he doesn't need to follow it as rigidly during the season when full-time training keeps the weight off.

And, he's down to 78kg and is meeting the conditioning standard when it comes to the dreaded skinfold measure.

"I've developed myself on that wake-up call and got myself fitter, and I'm back to where I need to be now," he said.

"I don't want to lose the trust of Rocket and my teammates; that's a pretty big part of me now.

"I'm used to what I'm eating now and it's doing the job for me."

Before he spent time in his hometown of Ballarat in the off-season, Hooper was also involved in the infamous night out on the team's off-season trip to Hong Kong he knows embarrassed him and the club.

The players received a reprimand for the incident which, combined with the weight issue, has left Hooper more determined than ever to succeed this season.

His forward line teammate Daniel Giansiracusa said Hooper had covered the hard yards in a bid to get himself back to AFL standard.

"He's worked really hard, and that's all you can do at VFL level," he said.

"The spot he plays can be frustrating at times [and] all we ask from him is to put that forward pressure on and if he continues to do that, I'm sure he'll stay in the side.

"It was good he got on the end of a few on the weekend and again, he brings that energy."

That "energy" is reflected in his "pressure acts"; the new buzz statistic of the AFL.

The Dogs have won their past four games, with the intensity of Hooper and zippy first-year forward Luke Dahlhaus proving vital in a resurgent forward structure.

Hooper instigated 16 pressure acts against the Demons - which ranked him fifth at the club for that game - and 20 versus Carlton, which had him third.

"It's defined by putting pressure on the opposition in our forward line; making them use quick kicks and keeping the ball in," he said.

"It's a huge part of my role, and I just want to get my pressure acts up. My goal each week is to win [the count].

"I'm very determined to do that and have the confidence from the coaches that I can do it each week."

Away from football, Hooper is about to commence an online course in building and construction, which will lead on from the six-month apprenticeship he completed when he was living back in Ballarat.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back into it and taking my mind off football a bit," he said.

"It's definitely important to have a back up because football isn't everything and it might just last two or three years.

"It's so important you have education or a job behind you, so you have something to fall back on."

This article first appeared in the AFL Record