If there was one Collingwood teammate who Jordan De Goey was reluctant to tell about his AFL Rising Star nomination, it was his best mate: Darcy Moore.
"I didn't want to break his heart," De Goey joked to AFL Media.
The Pies youngsters have enjoyed their verbal jousting this season, each teasing the other that they were yet to receive the prestigious weekly award.
But now De Goey has bragging rights.
"He'll be all right. I think he'll be happy for me," he laughed.
De Goey took out the round 20 gong after fighting tooth and nail to keep the Pies' finals hopes from slipping away against the Sydney Swans last Friday night.
In the best performance of his 13-game career, the tenacious onballer laid 12 tackles, collected 18 touches, launched five inside 50s and booted a goal at the SCG.
Although the Swans emerged from the arm-wrestle with an 11-point win, the young Magpies learnt more valuable lessons in another close loss to an experienced finals-bound outfit.
De Goey, 19, spent time on Swans clearance king Josh Kennedy picking up tips about where he needs to run to and how hard he needs to work defensively to become a top AFL midfielder.
"He's just a really strong unit and he knows what positions to get into. I played on him a fair bit and learnt a lot off him," De Goey said.
"If you're going to play in midfield you've got to work both ways. It's not really thought about in junior footy, you go about doing all the offensive stuff and wanting to kick the goals.
"But once you get to AFL you've got to work both ways otherwise you won't get a game."
The Pies have high hopes for De Goey, who they swooped on with pick No. 5 in last year's draft – one of the selections acquired in Dayne Beams' trade to the Brisbane Lions.
The hard-at-it midfielder was quick to turn heads after he walked through the doors at the Westpac Centre, impressing in the NAB Challenge and starting as the sub in the round one win over the Lions at the Gabba.
He's since played 13 games and is so excited about Collingwood's future that he has already re-signed until the end of 2018.
"There's a lot of youth coming through the club now and a lot of really good young talent sticking with Collingwood, so that's pretty much why I did it," he said.
"There's no reason why I shouldn't stay loyal to the club."
De Goey has averaged 13 disposals plus five tackles in his debut season, and he becomes Collingwood's eighth Rising Star nominee since 2010.
Now he just hopes Moore, who should still be eligible for the award next year, becomes the ninth.
"I'm sure he'll get one in these last couple of rounds."
Jordan De Goey
Debut: Round 1 2015, Brisbane v Collingwood at the Gabba
Games: 13
Goals: 6
Draft History: Selection No. 5, 2014 National Draft
Recruited From: Ashburton/Oakleigh U18
Average Disposals: 13.38
Average Marks: 1.69
Average Tackles: 5.0
