Carlton’s abundance of Rising Star nominees is a reflection on the Club as whole, according to youngster Jack Silvagni.
As the Blues’ fourth 2017 NAB AFL Rising Star nominee, Silvagni followed in the footsteps of teammates Caleb Marchbank, Samo Petrevski-Seton and David Cuningham, who were each nominated for the award in the first half of the 2017 season.
Although humbled to be recognised as a young talent, Silvagni said his nomination demonstrated the direction and continual improvement of the entire playing group.
“It’s a massive honour and a really proud moment for myself and the Club with four rising stars in the past eight weeks,” Silvagni told SEN on Tuesday.
“It’s a really good sign of where we’re (Blues) heading and what we want to achieve long-term."
The 19-year-old received the Round 13 nomination following the Blues’ 10-point victory over the Gold Coast Suns at the weekend. During the clash, Silvagni collected 13 disposals and kicked two final-term goals.
While he acknowledged a “reasonable” individual performance against the Suns, the second-year Blue abstained from being satisfied with his on-field output in 2017, with further development his focus.
“Personally, I had a reasonable game on the weekend and I’m playing some OK footy but I’m pretty hard on myself,” Silvagni said.
“I’d like to get some more ball but I understand – and Bolts has said to me – that particularly for the young boys, we want to base our game around pressure and effort.
“That’s what I’m working on at the moment and as my career progresses, hopefully I can influence the game a bit more.”
As the son of full-back of the century Stephen Silvagni, the young forward said he grew up “under no illusions” about the way he played his junior footy.
Now amid his second AFL season, the former No.53 pick said he’d continue to use the lessons he learnt during his childhood to have an impact in each of his future encounters.
“I never really played a good game according to Dad. Even If I played OK there was always something wrong,” he said.
“(As a young footballer) I might have thought that if I kicked three (goals) I was having a good day or I might have had seven or so touches in under-14s where your impact on the game can be important but your influence throughout the whole day might not be as profound as what it can be.
“I guess I’m taking that through to the way I’m playing now … I like to be as impactful as I can be on game day.”
Silvagni will line up for his 20th AFL game when Carlton takes on Richmond at the MCG on Sunday from 3:20pm.
