BULLDOG dasher Shaun Higgins has tantalised fans with flashes of brilliance in his first three years at the top level.

Unfortunately for him and the Western Bulldogs' faithful injuries have restricted the No.11 pick at the 2005 NAB AFL Draft to 32 games in that time, but after one major setback in each of his first three seasons Higgins feels his luck is turning. 

"My introduction to AFL has been a little bit hampered by injury. It was the elbow in the first year, a shoulder in the second and the ankle last year, but I've learned a lot despite that and I want to build on that in 2009," Higgins, who turns 21 in March, says.

"This has been the best pre-season I've had just in terms of having no injuries or no setbacks along the way. I started pre-season in the condition that I wanted to and so far everything has gone to plan."

It’s a refreshing turn of events for the former Geelong Falcon who was an unwilling participant in an incident early in the 2008 season that proved a scary reminder of the physical toll the game can take on young men.

During the round two clash against the Demons an awkward landing following a marking contest had far-reaching consequences for Higgins' season.

"I just thought I'd rolled my ankle and then I had scans on the Monday and they showed that there was a fair bit of bone damage," he recalls.

 "So I went in on the Thursday to have that operated on thinking I'd miss six to eight weeks and woke up to the news that I'd had a total ankle reconstruction.

"I dislocated my ankle and when it came out of the joint it ripped all the ligaments out and chipped a bit of bone. So they had to put the ligaments back in place and remove the bone that had chipped off.

"It was just a marking contest and I came down and landed on the inside of Paul Wheatley's boot and pretty much my whole body weight came down on top of it. It was just one of those things that happens in footy.

"It was a shock, but everything went well with the rehab and I made it back in round 21. Since then I haven't had a problem with it which has been a bit of a bonus because the surgeon wasn't sure how well it would heal because of the extent of the damage."

The silver lining of spending so long on the sidelines was the amount of time the young midfielder was able to spend with injured Bulldog great Scott West whose number Higgins will wear this year following the veteran's retirement.  

"I don't think I'll come close to filling those shoes just yet, but it's a massive honour.

"I had a good relationship with Westie, I was pretty close with him in my first three years at the club, and we did a lot of rehab together last year. We watched most games together which was a huge help to me. He's just the perfect player to try and model your game on.

"When he asked me to wear his No.7 it was something I told him I'd love to do."

Despite a diminished fitness base and a limited range of motion in the joint, Higgins was thrilled to be able to participate in his first finals series which he says drove him during the gruelling months in the pool, on the bike and in the boxing ring.

He didn't look out of place in all three of the Dogs' three finals appearances which he says has left him hungry for more.

Higgins has averaged just over a goal a game to this point in his career playing predominantly as a high half-forward. It's a role he enjoys, but he's hopeful a good pre-season and just a little bit of luck will put him in a position to fight for more time running with the talented Bulldog onball brigade in 2009.  

"It's not like I've got ongoing hamstring or quad problems or anything like that which would be a concern. It's just the way footy goes sometimes when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time," he says.

"My main goal this year is to become a consistent, regular player with the Dogs and going into my fourth year it probably is time to step up even though I have had a touch of bad luck along the way.

"It's time that I stepped up and started to be counted as a senior player and with the pre-season I've had I'm really hoping to do that and am really looking forward to this year."