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FORMER Melbourne speedster Sam Blease says he still has a burning desire to play in the AFL.
Blease fell out of favour with coach Paul Roos this year and agreed to part ways with the Demons after his post-season interview.
The pacy midfielder only played two games in 2014 and believes he wasn't suited to Roos' defensively-minded gameplan.
However, the 23-year-old is confident he has plenty to offer another AFL club and hopes to build on his 33 career games since being plucked at pick 17 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.
Blease said he has been working with high performance running coach Adam Larcom in the past month in a bid to earn a second chance.
"Obviously the time at Melbourne has been a little bit inconsistent, I guess, and I've taken this opportunity over this break to work on some things…endurance being one of those," Blease told NAB AFL Trade Radio.
"I think it's put me in good stead for another opportunity.
"This year has been a little bit different to previous years where I've sort of felt that this was my most consistent VFL season.
"I think maybe the coaching staff maybe just see it a little bit differently to what I do, and I probably didn't fit into the way Melbourne was trying to play this year.
"That's all fine, but I suppose from a selfish point-of-view it was very frustrating.
"Roosy's a great football person, as we all know, and he's got the club going in the right direction, but unfortunately I didn't fit into those plans."
Blease, who was twice nominated as a NAB AFL Rising Star, said he has long understood he needed to improve his ability to run harder for longer.
"It's something I've been really working on each pre-season…I'm just a natural speed athlete," he said.
"It's probably never going to be something I'm going to be outstanding at, because my body's just not built that way.
"But if I can build up my tank so I can repeat speed efforts over and over again – which I've been able to do a little bit.
"I had an interrupted pre-season last year, that always holds you back a little bit, but going into this pre-season I'm fully fit and ready to go."
Blease revealed there has been some interest from Melbourne-based clubs, although he understands he might have to be patient before a potential deal bobs up.
"There's a couple in Melbourne, so we'll see how that all pans out," he said.
Twitter: @TravKing_AFL https://twitter.com/TravKing_AFL
