Buoyed by making his first senior appearance, Max Warren is calling on the experience to make further strides in his development.

Tasked with following Carlton livewire Jeff Garlett in North Ballarat’s clash against the Blues, Warren was a standout performer.

“After the main skills during the week, (development manager) Ben Dyer came up and told me I’d get the matchup there against Garlett,” he revealed in a post-match chat with NMFC.com.au.

“I watched a bit of vision and saw that he had been playing a bit inside, so I wasn’t sure whether I’d swap over or not further up the ground. On the day at the game I found out I’d follow him everywhere.”

Warren held his more experienced opponent goalless and to just 13 disposals, while collecting 19 himself.

It was arguably one of his best performances in three seasons at Arden Street.

“I was excited (about the task) because he’s a good player and played a lot of AFL games,” Warren explained.

“It’s always a challenge when you come up against those blokes but I had the right mindset going in and knew what I had to do. The aim was to nullify his influence but then to make sure I got the ball myself like any good tag.”

The ball-winning element of a tagging role is understated. While a players’ first job is to restrict their opponent, solely focusing on that will essentially leave a side with 17 on the field when pushing forward.

“It’s all about summing it up for when your opponent isn’t prepared to chase, and working hard to give the boys no real option but to use me.”  

As the afternoon wore on, Warren had more and more influence on the game, while squeezing Garlett out. It’s a lesson learned from his first game in North colours a fortnight ago.

“I learned how to run games out more from playing the one senior game. I didn’t really know what kind of work-rate I needed to have at an AFL level until I’d done it,” he added.

“Once I’d done that I thought to myself I was just going to treat the running like it was an AFL game. The GPS was pretty close to the senior game the week before, so it showed I was on the right track.

“It’s a bit harder with a tag because you’re sort of dictated to a little bit by your opposition and your man, but next week if I don’t have a similar role I’m still going to work just as hard.”

Advantageous to Warren, the wonders of modern technology can provide feedback in real-time.

“I can get a live feed in how I’m going with the running and how hard I’m working. It’s about focusing on how many metres a minute I’m running and the intensity I’m going with, so it’s a good indication of how I’m going.”

To cap off an enjoyable afternoon, the number 44 also kicked his first ever goal for North Ballarat.

“The set shot we’ll forget about and sweep under the carpet, but I didn’t have time to think about the goal so I just threw it on the boot. I was a pretty happy boy after that one.”