Brendon Ah Chee says he wants 2015 to be the year he steps up into the big league.

After three seasons at the club playing football at SANFL level, the midfielder says he wants to push himself even further with another Darren Burgess pre-season under his belt.

“You really feel the effects of Burgo’s pre-season,” Ah Chee said at the launch of the Aboriginal AFL Academy today.

“That’s where it starts, in the pre-season.

"[I want to] set up the opportunity for me to play AFL and the team to go really far.” 

With his 2012 and 2013 seasons both ending in knee surgeries that sidelined him for three months, he hopes to be able to prove himself this year after winning the club's SANFL coaches trophy in 2014.  

“I’ve got nothing to lose,” he said.

“I’ve got to give it everything I have and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Ah Chee says the key to getting ahead is finishing his first uninterrupted pre-season and proving himself to the coaches with his football.

“That’s what I’m doing right now in the pre-season, that’s what it’s for,” he said.

“Getting in the last couple of months and not missing any sessions has done wonders for me.”

Ah Chee was drafted from South Fremantle in 2011 and has since played 34 SANFL games, but has no AFL matches to his credit.

He says new midfield manager Michael Voss is encouraging him to be aggressive in his training if he wants his chance on an AFL stage.

“[Voss] is trying to get that aggression out of me,” he said.

“You have to be [aggressive] especially with Ken Hinkley as your coach.

“If you want to be in his team, you have to be aggressive, it’s not about [potential] any more, it’s performance. I have to perform.”