The 17-year-old, who honed his craft with the Warrnambool Rangers and through Warrnambool Wolves ‘twilight’ competition, is gearing up for a dream tilt for a spot on Melbourne Victory’s National Youth League outfit.

Mullins, a defender with the Ballarat Red Devils’ under 20s and senior sides, first trialed with the A-League club on Monday night and will now have three more opportunities to impress selectors.

“In the first trial, it was a similar sort of standard to what I’m used to with the Red Devils but it was obviously fairly daunting playing in front of some really strong and experienced coaches,” he told The Standard.

“You certainly concentrate a lot more naturally when you have coaches of that calibre watching as it definitely isn’t your average training session.”

Mullins, who moved to Ballarat at the start of 2015 to take up study at Ballarat Grammar, said it was his dream to play professionally but was driven to keep playing by a love for the game.

"I’ve always just loved the game. I want to play professionally but if it doesn’t happen, that’s not the end of it. I love playing, and that’s why I do it,” he said.

“When you come across opportunities like this, you might as well grab them and go with it because they don’t come along that often.

“There’s probably 50 us from the league I’m playing in but it was an invite trial. The first contact came from my coach and then I was contacted by Victory to confirm it was happening.”

The former Emmanuel College student began the season with the Red Devils’ under 20s side, but has managed to squeeze his way into the senior outfit’s bench in recent weeks.

He hailed the impact of Red Devils coach James Robinson, who made his name as a founder player with the North Queensland Fury, on improving his game.

“He’s definitely the best coach I’ve ever had,” Mullins said.

“He’s really professional in the way he goes about everything, and his knowledge of the game and desire to win are great.”

Mullins said he was pleased with his progress with the fourth-placed Red Devils, and was relishing the chance to compete in the NPL2 West division.

“I’ve just been trying to take it game by game really, but I’ve moved into the midfield a bit when I’ve come out off the bench which has been good too.”

Mullins will be joined by fellow Red Devils’ Brandon Lauton, Jake Francis and Dejan Mitrovic for the trials.

After the Red Devils’ slow start, Mullins is set to face St Albans on Saturday.