While there’s still a healthy feeling of staying on edge for breakout midfielder Ned Long, the 22-year-old says his self-belief has built throughout a career-best season.

Coming into 2025 with 12 AFL games to his name across three seasons with Hawthorn and the Pies, Long has now tripled that by notching his 36^th match a fortnight ago against Adelaide.

That 24-point win, which was also his first final, was undoubtedly one of the best of his career, as he produced a monster third quarter to surge the Pies towards victory.

And it’s games like two Thursdays ago that, alongside a full year in the Club’s AFL system, that have enhanced his inner belief in himself at the top level.

“You still feel on edge at time but I definitely feel more comfortable and there’s a bigger belief in myself,” Long said ahead of his first Preliminary Final.

“I always believed in myself but once you’ve got evidence of good games it helps to further that in your mind.

“I’m going into games feeling good and hopefully it’s translating, it feels like it is.”

Adding to his internal comfort has been the way he has immersed himself and been embraced by the playing group, particularly the midfield.

Playing an inherently selfless role – which he humbly indicates is in no larger quantity than any of his teammates – the 194cm midfielder has endeared himself to fans with the way he has released his teammates this season.

Coming in as a younger player in a line group full of experience, Long says there’s a willingness by the team’s older players to make members such as him feel as comfortable as possible.

“We’ve got a pretty good combination at the moment, particularly in the midfield and the other guys set me up really well and make it really simple,” he said.

“I try and help them out whenever I can because they’re getting a lot of attention – Nick and Jordy have blokes hanging off them so where I can help out a little bit I try and do that

“They keep my job really simple which is good and because of how experienced and knowledgeable those guys are, they actually make the transition really easy.

“On the back of last year getting a few games with them, I sort of built a little bit of chemistry and understanding.

“This year it just feels like it’s developed really quickly and Jordy has obviously been a little bit in and out throughout the year and it feels like the last three weeks of the regular season we were just able to get a few games under our belt and really develop that chemistry, so I feel like it’s in a really good spot at the moment.”

With Long’s big-bodied, selfless midfielder prototype currently in vogue, he and his Magpie teammates will have to contend with perhaps the game’s best proponent of the style this weekend in Brisbane’s Josh Dunkley.

Long said the Lions star was definitely someone he looked to across the league and was buoyed by the challenge of coming up against the reigning premiers, who they’ve already played twice this season.

“It’s just exciting at the moment thinking about whatever it’ll be – 90,000 plus,” he said.

“I definitely look at a fair few guys around the league and he’s (Dunkley) probably one clear one where he’s a great player and it’s a bit of a similar role where he’s got Neale and Ashcroft and McCluggage and a few other guys rolling around there and then he compliments them so well with tackling pressure and still winning the ball.

“It’s definitely something I try look at and take parts of and obviously try and play my own game as well.

“They were two very different games, the early one was a great game and probably one of our better games of the year. It was a really good team performance and we obviously had a big win.

“The game was how we want it to look and we played to our strengths and then the game later in the year they were able to get on top of us.

“I feel like we’re coming into this game knowing that when we play well and play to our strengths we can play well.”