Stuart Dew has driven Will Brodie hard in a "frustrating" second season for the young midfielder, but the Gold Coast coach might just about be ready to reap the rewards.

Taken at number nine in the 2016 NAB AFL Draft, Brodie is 189cm, loves the bash and crash of contested footy and, in a struggling team, thought he would have played more than six career games in two seasons.

But the knocks on his game from former coach Rodney Eade and now Dew have been the same.

Brodie is terrific with the ball in his area but once it leaves, his running and work away from congestion has been below par.

So Dew has made him work and work to get a position in the senior team, and against North Melbourne last Sunday, Brodie repaid him.

It wasn't just the 24 disposals from the 19-year-old, but more impressively the 29 pressure acts, just one behind teammate Nick Holman as a match-high.

Brodie worked his backside off.

"I thought Will played really well, and it's exactly what we know he's capable of," Dew said.

"We've seen a real shift in intensity over the last couple of weeks and I think we rewarded his NEAFL form, and it was great to see him transfer that style of play to senior footy.

"I thought that was his best game of the year, NEAFL or AFL.

"I think he showed he can play with those guys if he delivers on what he's good at."

It was just one game, but confirmation for Brodie that he was good enough.

The teenager said he had worked hard with development coaches Nick Malceski and Shaun Hart and had taken the feedback from Dew.

"Even at training I'm trying to work on my gut-running, spread from stoppages, playing different positions and just trying to expand my game so that I can play good AFL footy when I get a chance," Brodie told AFL.com.au.

"This season has been a little bit frustrating.

"Any kid in the system wants to be playing AFL footy, and I feel like you're in a rush a fair bit.

"It's trusting the process and trusting the coaches and trying to chip away and do what they say.

"They do have your best interests at heart.

"They want me to not be a player who comes in and out. I want to be a player that can play an important role at AFL level, and I feel as though I'm capable of that.

"I want to go in and stay in. I've been dropped a few times, but I want to be an important part of the team, be relied upon and have a lot of trust from my teammates."