After turning 19 on New Year's Day, King said he was hoping to establish himself at VFL level after returning from an ACL injury in 2015.

“I was expecting last season to be more of a development year, I'd set myself the goal of playing a single TAC Cup game,” he said.

“But my knee felt great throughout the year, and I got an early reward for the effort I put in to get back.

“It'd been 19 months since I'd played footy at all when I came into the thirds with Wodonga.”

Despite his reservations, King quickly slotted into the Bushrangers line-up, and was included in their leadership group.

Regularly featuring in the bests alongside fellow Bushies draftee Clayton Oliver in his 11 matches, the athletic ruckman said the step up into the premier under-18 competition had been challenging.

“I struggled a little bit for fitness early on,” he said.

“The high pace of the TAC Cup was a bit of a shock to the system.

“Stepping up into the VFL with the Casey Scorpions will be a bit of a challenge, but hopefully I'll be able to develop my game further with those guys.

“I watched them a fair bit throughout the year, so it'll be exciting to run out next to them.”

Having a familiar face in Oliver was helping the athletic ruckman transition into playing at the highest level.

“It's good having him around, he had an absolutely ripper year so it's nice to keep him as a teammate,” King said.

“He's still got a lot of potential to fulfil I think.”

After Demons ruck stalwart Mark Jamar departed the club in the off-season, King said he was excited to be a part of Melbourne's emerging ruck group.

“Max Gawn had a breakout year, Jake Spencer as well,” he said.

“I know (Wagga's) Max King too, he was drafted from the Bushies when I was in my under-16 year.”