For any aspiring Aussie Rules player, the ultimate goal is to make it into the AFL.

Whether it’s for the abundance of passionate fans, the surreal atmosphere in the stadiums, or whether it’s simply just the honour of playing at the highest level in Australia’s most-loved sport, playing in the AFL would epitomise ‘living the dream’.

But the journey doesn’t stop there.

Finding your way onto an AFL list is incredibly hard, but maintaining a regular spot in the senior team is even more difficult.

Lions forward Jordan Lisle realised his AFL dream when he was drafted to Hawthorn at the end of 2008, and went on to make his long-awaited senior debut with the Hawks midway through the 2011 season.

He moved to Brisbane during the 2011 Trade Period in search of more senior opportunities, but has managed just nine senior games in 18 months with his new Club.

Lisle has spent the majority of his playing time with the Lions Reserves in the NEAFL, which despite an improved standard of competition, is still considered inferior to the likes of the VFL, SANFL and WAFL State Leagues.

As a result, the 22-year-old says he has found it more difficult to step up into the high-pressure environment of senior AFL when afforded the opportunity.

“The NEAFL is a bit below the standard of the VFL, which I’ve played in before, and the gap between the NEAFL and the AFL is significant,” Lisle told lions.com.au.

“So it takes a few games to get used to the added pressure.”

It’s a well-known fact in sport that the right mindset will go a long way to achieving success – a good attitude, confidence and focus are essential in order to have a good game.

And although Lisle is still young in terms of his AFL development, he approaches every game with the same mindset.

“It’s definitely not as much of a mental step-up as it is physical because you try and psyche yourself up for any game but you just have to be prepared to play at a higher intensity,” he said.

All sportspeople have figures that have influenced their career in some way but for Lisle, this influence has been a bit more personal.

His father Mark Lisle was a ruckman for North Melbourne from 1987-89 and Jordan cites him as his biggest influence.

“Dad coached a couple of my junior teams which was a really good experience for me,” Lisle said.

“He’s the reason I got into footy because I was interested in it after hearing about his playing days.”