JAMES Frawley still considers himself a key defender, even though he says “it’s been awesome” playing in the forward line at the moment.

Frawley, whose second match in attack last round was pivotal in Melbourne’s 23-point win over Carlton at the MCG – he had 24 disposals, 14 marks and kicked two goals – said he was happy to play a swingman role for coach Paul Roos.

“It’s been fun. Me and Dunny (Lynden Dunn) have played the last few years down back and I think a good coach comes in and realises after three weeks that I’ve got a bit of talent to go up forward,” he told Dee TV.

“I’ve been loving it mate and enjoying it, and hopefully can kick a few more snags this week against the Gold Coast.”

Although playing in attack in the AFL has been foreign to Frawley, it has been somewhat of a back to the future role, given he played up forward as a junior. 

“In the old Ballarat days in Austar Arena (now Eureka Stadium), I was trying to get a kick at full-forward and play on the wing, so it brought back a few memories,” he said.

“I just love going out there and doing my bit for the team.

“Roosy said he’d put me forward and I thought I’d relish the role and try and do my best. I got a few marks and kicked a couple of goals, so I really, really enjoyed it and hopefully I can continue it.”

Frawley said playing a key forward role was “a bit tougher than the old TAC Cup days”.

“I was 78kg wringing wet [back then]. But I’m just enjoying it and with Dawesy (Chris Dawes) coming back in last week, it showed a bit more structure in the forward line,” he said.

“He took the key defender, so me and Dunny were able to run up the ground a bit more and tried to be those traditional centre half forwards. Dawesy stayed at home [at full-forward] and played a good game for us.

“We’ve been working really well together – myself, Dunny and Dawesy. Hopefully it can continue and we can try and kick a few more goals for us.”

Frawley’s first week as a key forward was a tough initiation, given he played in wet and slippery conditions against Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium, before things turned around last week against the Blues at the MCG.

“When I went up to Sydney, I was trying to pray for the gods that it’d be sunny. Around the ground, it was pretty wet that day,” he said.

“All you can do is play your role for the team when it’s wet – and that’s what we tried to do – roll up on the spares and do all the things that no one sees … do the team things.

“It was a pretty tough day when it was wet. We played out on the ‘G last Saturday and it was perfect conditions and I loved it. Being a key defender, and playing on a lot of forwards, you pick up on a few good pointers and what they do on game to game and different opponents. You pick up a few tips and you try to put that into practice. I just really enjoyed it, which was good.”

Frawley said he had jokingly told Roos that he was ready to play in attack, but when the news actually came from the coach that it was going to happen – it was somewhat of a surprise for the 2010 All-Australian defender.

“I’d been pumping myself up to Roosy and a few of the boys, saying ‘I could go forward if you want me to’ – more as a joke,” he said.

“One meeting we’re all sitting there one day and we’d lost to West Coast after a pretty heavy loss and it wasn’t a great game for the boys and the club. He just said ‘hey Chipper, how do you feel about playing forward?’ I went a bit red and blushed a bit. I didn’t know what to say.

“He said ‘well, it’s happening this week mate’. It was a real shock to the system, but I really looked forward to the challenge and I’ve been loving it the last two weeks.”

Frawley conceded he had a few sleepless nights thinking about the change in role. 

“I was in a bit of a shock for the first couple of days. The first couple of nights, I couldn’t get to sleep very quickly, because I was thinking how to play a forward role,” he said.

“Was I going to be any good at it? Or was I going to be no good at it? I just went out there and tried to do my role for the team. [I was] lucky enough on the weekend, I got on the end of a few nice kicks from the boys down back.

“It was just a bit of a shock and when you’re an AFL player, you’ve just got to adapt to these situations. I think there have been a few players in the system these days like Harry Taylor or back in the day like Adam Hunter, who go forward and go back.”