JESSE Lonergan remembers feeling a pinch on the outside of his knee. In a tackle at AIS-AFL Academy training in January, a teammate got wrapped around his leg. Usually, the 17-year-old Tasmanian busts through tackles. This one stuck, at least enough.

He continued to train but pulled up sore the next day, and soon found out he had torn his lateral meniscus, an injury that has disrupted Lonergan's season as he strives to be selected at this year's NAB AFL Draft.

He played two games for local club Launceston in May before playing three games for his state at the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. There, he had his best game with 19 disposals against Queensland, and against NSW/ACT and Northern Territory he had 15 touches and kicked two goals in both games. Now, he’s getting back into things at local club Launceston.

Despite becoming a little impatient in his rehabilitation - he came back slightly early on one occasion and missed another two weeks - Lonergan has seen the positives.

"Every injury is frustrating," Lonergan told AFL.com.au. "I love playing footy, I just love being a part of it. But it's been a learning experience as well. You're going to get injuries in a football career so it's about dealing with it the right way.

"You need to be positive about it. There's no point loping around or sooking about it. You just need to get on with things."

He's had some help in that regard. Jesse's uncle is Essendon midfielder Sam Lonergan. Sam is the younger brother of Jesse's father, Danny, who became a parent at 18. In the first few years of Jesse's life they all lived under the same roof, and Sam's instincts to help out Jesse remain.

"This year has been one of his hardest mentally with the injury, so we've had a few chats on how to look after his knee a bit better," Sam Lonergan said.

"I've always been relaying his injury back to our physios and doctors at Essendon and trying to get some more advice so I can help him from this end and send him down the right path."

Jesse, like Sam, is a midfielder who thrives on the contest. He wins his own possessions, and makes an impact around the ball, harassing and hustling until it's in his hands. He's a little bit more explosive than Sam, and is probably bigger and stronger than his uncle was at the same age (Jesse’s listed at 183cm and 86kg). He has also already had significant experience testing himself against senior opponents.

As a 15-year-old, Lonergan made his debut for Launceston in Tasmania's state league. Last year, as a 16-year-old, he played in the Blues' premiership side. At times opponents have targeted him, but Lonergan has never been flustered, at least outwardly. He feels better equipped to handle whatever's thrown at him now.

"I was pretty intimidated when I first came in against the bigger bodies," Lonergan said. "But it definitely fast-tracked things for me because you're always going to play senior footy at some stage when you're older so I've got to know what it is like."

Sam has been helping Jesse understand exactly what it takes to get to AFL level, and then to last. Jesse spent a week at Essendon through the AIS program in January and would come home to Sam's house marvelling at the things Bombers captain Jobe Watson did, and what it meant to be a professional.

Since they were growing up, Sam has been trying to make Jesse a better player. When they were living together, and played kick-to-kick in the backyard, Sam used to make Jesse retrieve the ball if he messed up the kick. Sam wasn't considered an excellent user of the ball as his draft fate grew closer, and he didn't want the same things to be said of Jesse as clubs looked at him in his draft year.

The same care still continues. Since Jesse was 14 or 15, Sam has been bringing him to the club occasionally when he's in Melbourne, or getting him into the Bombers' changerooms. Whenever Sam sees Merv Keane, one of Essendon's recruiters, he's telling him about how Jesse's going.

"I'm happy to say I believe he's going to be a much better player than what I've become, but in saying that he's got a long way to go and a lot of hurdles to jump before getting to AFL level," Sam says.

"I'd be quite happy to move aside and let him take my spot any day."?

Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.