WESTERN Bulldogs recruit Justin Sherman believes he can become a consistent performer at his new club because of a solid culture and continuity with his role.
Sherman, 23, was traded to the Dogs on Monday after requesting a move to Whitten Oval from the Brisbane Lions.
He decided to pursue a future with the Melbourne-based club because he was tired of the inconsistency he felt he was being steered towards.
"Having good years and mediocre years, I could no longer live that sort of rollercoaster lifestyle," Sherman said after arriving in Melbourne on Wednesday morning.
"I wanted to make sure going ahead that I could continue to be a great footy player, and to be that I need to be in the right culture and get continuity of one position.
"To be a good player, you need to play in the one position and play it really well, and know your role each week, and I think here I'm going to be provided with that.
"I know I'm determined and one thing I can say is I've had inconsistency back there, but that won't happen here because I've got better players around me. The team is too good for that sort of thing to happen with the way the coaches structure the team and the way they want it to play."
Sherman was also heavily courted by the Sydney Swans during last week's trade period.
He said the Dogs' culture and flag prospects were factors he weighed up on a recent two-week trip to the US.
"This year the Lions were a bit up and down with our culture with a few things that happened, but at the end of the day I had to make sure I played instinctive footy when I had all of these mixed messages that were coming in," he said.
"We had to consider the Swans but at the end of the day, Melbourne was always going to be where I wanted to come with the atmosphere and what it creates."
In recent seasons, Sherman had shared his time between the midfield and forward line, however the Dogs are likely to use him on the ball.
"We've touched on where we thought I might play and through the midfield would be great," he said.
"I've played a couple of good years on the wing so hopefully I'll get through there and help out the team."
Sherman, originally from Tasmania, will relocate to Melbourne in around six weeks.
He agreed there would be more scrutiny with playing football in 10-team Victoria but said he was prepared for it.
"It's going to be interesting after living that lifestyle up in Brisbane. It's completely different and it's all rugby league and the [Brisbane] Broncos," he said.
"It's going to be different coming down here but something I'm really excited for.
"This is where footy happens and this is where I wanted to be."
