The former Wodonga Raider's plans were up in the air over summer and just days before the start of the season, he didn't have a club.

But eight rounds later, the 18-year-old's an integral part of the Hoppers backline.

"I wasn't going to play this year because of work commitments," Barran revealed.

"I had a job out at the distribution centre, which was shift work.

"One week I'd be on morning shifts, the next week I'd be in the arvo and it was just hard to commit to a footy team: one week playing and the next not able to.

"It was a pain in the backside for me, whatever team I decided to play for.

"I only got on board the week before round one. I told 'TK' (Tallangatta coach Tim Kennedy) I had this job and couldn't commit to playing but he rang me up saying they were short for numbers.

"I was thinking it was a pre-season game but I looked up and it was round one!

"I spoke to 'TK' and said that if I was going to commit to footy, I was going to need a different job.

"I didn't have much heart in my previous job and one of my previous employers is a pretty good sponsor out at Tallangatta, he put a word in at Naubro and within a week, I'd started a new job.

"Naubro gave me that opportunity and it's been awesome ever since.

"The first game back brought a bit of heart into it and it's starting to go really well for me."

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Kennedy's thrilled to have Barran on board and playing consistently well.

"Sean was a late inclusion to our team," Kennedy said.

"We thought he was going to be there early but it took a bit of time to get to training.

"His work commitments were holding him back a fair bit, working every second Saturday and pretty strange hours throughout the week.

"But now we've found him other work in concreting and that's allowing him to train and play.

"Since he's been in our side, he's been a revelation down back.

"He's lifted the way we're playing massively."

Kennedy also hailed the performances of another teenager, Ben Hewatt, in the wake of Tallangatta's impressive win over Beechworth at the weekend.

"Benny's improved out of sight in the last month," Kennedy said.

"He's become a really consistent, tough and slippery customer.

"For a 17-year-old, he's really stepping up and leading the way."

Barran, meanwhile, can't wait to tackle Barnawartha and Yackandandah over the next fortnight.

"We're going to have a monstrumental amount of confidence going into these games," he said.

"The past couple of weeks is the brand of footy we want to be playing."

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