HISTORICALLY, Rising Star favouritism does not necessarily translate into a result but Greater Western Sydney midfielder Stephen Coniglio is starting to show that he was worthy of the tag.
In a pre-season survey of the AFL captains, seven nominated Coniglio as the player most likely to take out the NAB AFL Rising Star.
While his Giants teammates Jeremy Cameron and Tom Bugg secured nominations before him, Coniglio played possibly the best game any of the GWS youngsters have played so far with a 31-possession game in the Giants' first ever win against Gold Coast last Saturday.
Coniglio was GWS' second draft pick after Jonathon Patton in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft and has quickly cemented himself as an integral part of his club's young midfield, missing just the one game so far this year with a virus.
The West Australian youngster first played senior football aged just 16 for WAFL club Swan Districts and went on to win the WAFL Rising Star award and the Larke Medal for best player of the Under-18 National Championships last year.
But the road to AFL football was not completely smooth. Coniglio only made the choice between footy and his promising cricket career last year.
Even after committing to football, Coniglio was hampered by a knee injury towards the end of last year and was forced to sit and watch on as his contemporaries went through their paces at the AFL Draft Combine.
Not that he had anything to prove, as the teenager was already considered to be a certainty to be taken with one of the Giants' first three picks.
It was only a formality that Coniglio's name was read out after Patton's, but he wasn't worried about not getting the kudos of being the top pick.
"It would have been fantastic to go No.1 but Jon deserves it and he is a fantastic player," Coniglio told AFL.com.au the day after he was drafted.
"I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't relieved, it was just a feeling that I'm blessed and grateful to be here in the top five."
Later that day Coniglio moved in with new teammate Dom Tyson to Greater Western Sydney's Breakfast Point facility, which houses most of the Giants' list.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, the Giants had deliberately placed Tyson and Coniglio together after studying their personalities for much of the year.
"It's fantastic and he's a great guy, it's a good idea to have everyone living in the same vicinity," he said.
"There were a couple of boys who picked for themselves and we were happy to room together. I met him at draft camp and had a few chats to him. Stephen Silvagni was keen on the idea of rooming me up with him."
Luke Holmesby is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter - @AFL_Luke
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