GROWING up in Nelson Bay in northern NSW, Sydney Swans tagger Craig Bird faced a number of obstacles on the road to becoming an AFL footballer.

Living in a rugby league heartland, two hours north-east of Sydney, Bird says he "sort of had to play league to fit in".

He also tried his hand at rugby union and soccer, but his father Steve - who played for Port Adelaide in the SANFL - introduced him to Australian Football.

Craig soon developed a love for the sport, but his problems were far from over.

"We always had junior teams, but it's not that strong up there, it's a rugby league town," Bird said.

"We were pretty lucky, we always had a team, so I didn't really have to travel too far.

"But it wasn't the strongest comp growing up. There was a lack of numbers in most teams in the competition."

The lack of real competitiveness in the area meant Bird struggled to get noticed on the national stage.

He began making state teams and was a dual under-18 All Australian, but he still garnered little attention, something his father had warned him about.

"When I made the state under-15s, dad spoke to me about it and said if I really wanted to go for it, I probably could," he said.

"But I needed to train pretty hard considering where I was playing my footy.

"But around that age, when I started making state sides, I thought [making it to the AFL] might be a possibility."

The Swans eventually picked him up at No.59 overall in the the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.

After a solid debut season in 2008, some serious foot problems curtailed his progress over the next two years.

Entering 2011, a limited pre-season allowed him to overcome the recurring stress fractures and after sitting out round one Bird has featured in eight straight games.

One man ecstatic with Bird's progress is his coach, John Longmire.

"I've been thrilled with the way he's gone, Birdy," Longmire said.

"He missed all of last year except for a couple of games with a couple of pretty serious foot injuries.

"He had a limited pre-season but worked really hard with his rehab and we didn't push him too hard, so his foot didn't come under too much pressure.

"And we've been rapt with how he's gone. He's played on some of the best players in the competition and done a really good job.

"Last week he played on [Daniel] Wells a little bit and then went to [Andrew] Swallow, who was on fire in that first 10 minutes, and did a good job on him too.

"So we've been really pleased with the way he's gone."

Bird expects to line-up on Brisbane Lion Daniel Rich on Saturday night, but Longmire showed the faith he has in Bird when asked about his role at the Gabba.

"[Simon] Black's a pretty important player, as is Luke Power, as is Daniel Rich," he said.

"If any of those players get a fair bit of the ball, you know where it's going, it's going straight to Jonathan Brown.

"So we need to make sure we stop that supply as best we can."

Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell, Geelong's James Kelly and Port Adelaide's Danyle Pearce are some of the other players Bird has been tasked with neutralising this season.

Having grown up in an area where rugby league dominated, Bird has an insight into the challenges facing Greater Western Sydney.

Asked if he thought AFL could succeed in western Sydney, Bird said: "I think so.

"It's definitely grown over the last five to 10 years from what I've seen.

"Back home, there's a lot more kids playing now and throughout Sydney it's grown a lot.

"I think if the AFL keeps putting money into Sydney, I think it can work and hopefully one day can match it with rugby league in Sydney."

At 22 years of age, Bird has played 48 games for the Swans and is now a key part of Longmire's team.

But he is still under the critical watch of one person - his dad Steve.

"He pretty much comes to every home game and he loves his footy," Bird said.

"He always rings me up and gives me coaching tips still, even though he's a bit past it.

"No, he loves his footy and always comes down.

"He's always pretty honest with his feedback.

"He'll always be critical if I've had a bad game, but he gives a bit of advice, which is good at times."

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL