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Shaun Atley's legs move quickly but he doesn't appear to have a mouth that runs too fast.

 

So when the Rochester-born and Corryong-raised 22-year-old now occupying a spot on North Melbourne's backline said on Tuesday, "when the siren went last week it was crazy" it was obvious he was not exaggerating.

 

"I couldn't believe we were in a prelim, just that one step closer to the dream of playing in an AFL Grand Final," Atley told AFL.com.au.

 

There was no wide-eyed wonder to accompany the sentence however, just a description of the moment that conveyed good times.

 

"Mum was jumping around," Atley said, "She gets the most excited out of everyone I reckon."

 

Atley's dad, Brendan played about 200 games of local football, about half of them with Rochester, the town in North East Victoria where he and his wife Christina once again live (well, 10 minutes out of town if you want to be pedantic about it).

 

Brendan had pace and went down to Melbourne as a country scholarship squad player in 1979 after playing in the state schoolboys Victorian side a year earlier. He was brave enough but was a typical country footballer, one of seven kids who became a teacher and then a principal.

 

On Friday Brendan and Christina will jump on a plane in Albury to be at ANZ Stadium to watch the game. They don't normally go interstate for games but given it's a final…

 

"My parents are heading up," Atley said "[I've] got four brothers and sisters but it is a bit expensive to get them up there with the flights. Just mum and dad will come up and I have a few uncles in Sydney and Brisbane as well so they will come as well."

 

Atley is the eldest in a family that grew up loving sport with the sort of no fuss attitude that is as common in country Victoria as a eucalyptus tree.

 

Quick over hurdles, smart on a netball court and handy on the footy field, the five children kept themselves occupied wherever and whenever an open space presented.

 

Where once AFL allegiances were spread from Port Adelaide to the Brisbane Lions to the Saints – Shaun's team growing up – the Kangaroos had the sibling's support from the moment the eldest was selected at No.17 in the 2010 NAB AFL Draft.

 

A lack of pretension shines through, making Atley a perfect fit for a club that quietly spurns any such rubbish. His game is built on hard work, and a nature that has always seen him finish whatever it is that he started.

 

It's handy he has some talent too, capable of building to top speed quickly and breaking the lines. He has courage and clean hands and knows how to make the opposition wonder whether they're coming or going as he flashes by with the football in his hands.

 

Reliable, he's missed just six games since making his debut in round 1, 2011 and has extended his current consecutive games streak to 60.

 

A good player, he shows all the signs of benefitting from every bit of experience he gets this September.

 

Atley understands the Sydney Swans will be mighty opposition.

 

A wry smile appears when he is asked about his coach's post semi-final comment that North Melbourne has beaten each of the three opponents remaining in 2014.

 

"I think he is just trying to instill a bit of confidence," Atley said.

 

"There is an element to us believing in ourselves that we've been there and beaten them but a prelim final is going to be totally different."

 

It might be a different game but you can't imagine it changing Atley too much whatever the result.

 

This country kid might be chasing a dream but he has a firm grip on reality.