JOSH Battle was very excited to be meeting with an AFL club to discuss his prospects of becoming a league footballer.

The talented sportsman had always dreamed of playing at the highest level and he was confident the club interview was one of the first steps in him realising a burning ambition.

But when the gathering with recruiters had finished last November, Battle was left shocked and dismayed.

"They told me I was just a one-position player, I was unfit and that I needed to add some more strings to my bow," Battle told AFL.com.au.

"I took the feedback pretty badly at first, but I wanted to prove them wrong and I know I will in the end.

"My dream is to be an AFL footballer and I think I have the capabilities and work ethic to do so."

While the 17-year-old has predominately played one position throughout junior football, it sees him as one of the best tall forward prospects in this year's draft pool.

However, it wasn't so long ago that a career in the gentleman's game also loomed as another exciting career proposition.

Battle's ability with the bat earned him a cricket scholarship at Melbourne's Haileybury College, with one respected talent spotter comparing Battle's talents with the willow to former Victorian opener Nick Jewell.

But as many gifted juniors have found, the two sporting pursuits started to overlap and something had to give.

"I sat down with my dad Tony and he said, do whatever what you find most enjoyable and what you see yourself doing in the future, and that was footy," Battle said.

"Cricket was pretty full on, but when I made the AFL Academy squad I had to make a decision to concentrate on just one.

"I was a batsman and when you're not making many runs cricket isn't the best game to be playing.

"I enjoy football a bit more than cricket, but I also weighed up the fact that there's more opportunities to be a professional footballer than a professional cricketer."

While gaining a valuable general education at Haileybury, he's also received priceless footy tuition from one of the game's greatest full-forwards.

"One of my mentors is Matthew Lloyd and he's been working with me on my game as part of school's football program," Battle said.

"I was probably annoying him at first because I kept grabbing him after training, but it paid off because I'm using his kicking routine now and it's working for me.

"I'll be forever grateful to him and we'll be mates for the rest of our lives."

After noting some early application problems, Lloyd has tipped his protégé will be highly sought after come November's draft.

Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw and Port Adelaide's Karl Amon have both graduated under his watch, but Lloyd says Battle's output this season has surpassed those youngsters' contributions for the school.

And he believes Battle can develop into a player of similar calibre to Hawthorn's Jack Gunston.

"He's ripping games apart more so than anyone's done at Haileybury," Lloyd said of a player who has kicked 23 goals from six matches.

"He has elite endurance, very strong above his head and then very good at ground level like Hawthorn's Jack Gunston.

"He's very creative up the field as well and I think he could evolve into a big-bodied midfielder.

"Last year his training was pretty inconsistent, but now he could train quite comfortably with an AFL squad because that's how professional he's become over the past 12 months.

"He's like a sponge because he's always asking questions; he wants to get better and it's been exciting to watch his progress."

That growth as a player has also seen Battle slot 14 goals in four games for the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, while four appearances for Vic Country at the U18 championships netted him 11 goals and All Australian honours. 

Although immensely proud of his achievements on the field this year, Battle's most satisfying accomplishment came on the AFL Academy's training camp in the US - just a month after that fateful club meeting.

While the tour included visiting theme parks and watching now-retired NBA legend Koby Bryant strut his stuff for the Los Angeles Lakers, Battle's effort to win the arduous 3km time trial went a long way to refuting those recruiters' views.

"My tank is one of my main strengths, and I've worked pretty hard on it with my brother Nick over the pre-season by doing a few extra running sessions," Battle said.

"I've actually never had a beer in my life, because if you want to make it at the highest level you'll need to make a few sacrifices – and I have.

"It was also good to prove a few people wrong."