AFL Rising Star winner Daniel Talia is a million-to-one set of circumstances that came off for Adelaide.
A year after the Crows were filthy at losing Phil Davis to Greater Western Sydney and two years after Nathan Bock went to Gold Coast under the expansion clubs’ recruiting concessions, they have a third top-class key defender.
And they’re confident this one is going nowhere.
The 20-year-old, who has played 31 games and is contracted to the Crows until the end of next season, is the first Adelaide player to win the prestigious award.
It is also rare for a key defender to win one of the AFL’s top individual awards.
“It’s quite amazing – we coped when we lost Nathan Bock, who had given us (113) games,” said Crows football manager Phil Harper.
“We were pretty upset when we lost Phil Davis after (18) games, because we thought we had the next one.
“The odds of us getting a third one (key defender) in three years were just a million to one.
“But the million to one pops get up every now and again.”
Talia will make his finals debut on Saturday when he probably lines up against Sydney’s Sam Reid in the qualifying final at AAMI Stadium.
Talia polled 43 votes to win the award ahead of GWS forward Jeremey Cameron (35) and Western Bulldogs midfielder Mitch Wallis (19).
He earnt his nomination in round 12 for a strong game on Saints captain Nick Riewoldt, one of many star AFL forwards that Talia has stood against this season.
Riewoldt injured his calf early in the match, but was impressed with his young opponent.
“The thing I probably noticed most about him was his closing speed and his positioning for a young bloke,” Riewoldt said.
“Usually, that’s where you can get a lot of young guys … but his body work was really good.
“Clearly playing one of the most important roles for a team, he gets the opposition’s best forward every week and in a team that’s finished in the top four – it sums it up.
“It’s fitting the award goes to him.”
That praise will mean a lot to Talia, who grew up idolising Riewoldt and tried to model himself on the Saints’ professionalism.
Riewoldt, the 2002 Rising Star winner, also gave the keynote speech at Wednesday’s awards function in Melbourne.
Talia routinely plays on the league’s star forwards and said it was a simple matter of rigorous self-belief.
He is a well-spoken, humble young player with a massive future.
Talia dedicated the award to his teammates, saying they had given him immense support.
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide appear set to re-sign midfielder Travis Boak, ending months of speculation about his future.
It is understood they will announce the new deal at Friday’s club best-and-fairest awards.
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