Some footballers take longer to surface than others.

In some cases it's a matter of physical maturation. For others, it simply takes time for the penny to drop before a player realises he needs to work harder to ensure that he can prove that has what it takes to make it in the AFL.

But for Alan Toovey, it was simply a matter of banging on the door until AFL recruiters simply couldn't ignore him any longer.

In his teenage years, Toovey was on recruiters radars while competing in the National Under 18 Championships for Western Australia. Playing in his now customary role as a defender, Toovey was tipped by some to feature prominently in the 2004 National Draft.

Instead, he was forced to wait another 12 months - and another National Draft - before Collingwood came calling with the second selection in the 2005 Rookie Draft.

Draft watchers over on FootyDraft.com noted the following when providing their dossier on Toovey.

"Toovey completed his schooling at Aquinas last year where he captained the team to a runner up position, only behind the highly regarded Trinity team of 2004. He often played in the ruck for Aquinas highlighting his athleticism. Toovey made All Australian in 2004 playing from the backline and using his run to break lines.

This year Toovey spent time in the Colts after playing in a couple of pre-season league games on the wing. The strong Claremont league side proved hard to break into and he did not get given opportunities until the later rounds.

Eventually Toovey made his league debut after a couple of good performances in the reserves grade and didn’t look back from there holding down the full back position on one of the best full forwards against the Swans in the First Semi Final.

Didn’t have a great carnival in 2005 was given a bit of a lesson by a bigger bodied Beau Dowler. He was named best on ground in the WA State 18s vs State 20s earlier this year.

Strengths:
- Versatile Defender
- Not afraid to put his head over the ball
- Experienced league footy and quality forwards
- Seems to play well against older opposition (04 championships, WAFL League, 20’s Match)
- Reads the play very well, is an excellent mark and usually makes good decisions.
- He has a good turn of pace and will be disciplined when sticking to his man.

Weaknesses:
- Size may not be big enough to play full back in the AFL
- Overlooked last year, despite going to draft camp
- Never seems to really dominate a game

Footydraft.com Verdict: Difficult to predict given he was not picked up last year when he had such a good season. He has still has had a great finish to this season though and could be a real steal late in the draft."

In fact, FootyDraft had Toovey heading to Port Adelaide with pick 30 in their Phantom Draft, illustrating the supreme value Collingwood has received having secured him as a rookie (as an aside, the same Phantom Draft has Scott Pendlebury heading to Geelong at pick 16).

After arriving at the Westpac Centre, Toovey rose from the Williamstown reserves in 2006 to a Collingwood premiership in 2010.

He is now well and truly a senior regular and one player who supporters can always bank on to provide tremendous reliability and consistency, no matter the scoreline or the quality of the opposition.