GREATER Western Sydney may have played just five games in the AFL but it’s already landed two NAB Rising Star nominations.
Tom Bugg has joined teammate Jeremy Cameron as a NAB AFL Rising Star nominee after his 28-possession performance in Saturday's loss to the Western Bulldogs at Manuka Oval.
As the football world watches the fledgling Giants in their initial AFL games, Bugg has stood out for his composure with the ball and at the contest.
The Bulldogs loss was the third in Bugg's five AFL games where he has gathered more than 25 possessions as a defender floating forward.
The former Caulfield Grammar student played a handful of games for the Giants in last year's NEAFL competition after he was picked as a 17-year-old access selection.
Bugg balanced his football career in Sydney with his studies in Melbourne, which he admitted proved to be an unusual situation.
"It was a bit of a challenge stepping up a level like that," Bugg said in an interview with AFL.com.au in February.
"As the year progressed I thought I played better in the NEAFL. I also had to travel up and back, which not every other player had to do, so in the circumstances I was happy."
Despite all the foreign and unusual factors that are at play when a young man leaves home to pursue his dream, Bugg had some reassurance in the form of teammate, former classmate and good friend Dylan Shiel who followed him to Blacktown.
Bugg has also developed a close bond with housemate Tim Golds in the Giants' Breakfast Point complex, an arrangement that has fast tracked the off-field development of both players.
"It's a bit different," he said.
"There's a lot more responsibility on yourself."
