Richmond coach Terry Wallace had no hesitation on Tuesday in naming Dean Polo's 28 possession, three goal effort against Essendon at the MCG on Saturday night as the best AFL debut he had ever seen from any player under his command.
The stunning performance - which saw Polo win the award for best afield in the "Dreamtime at the G" clash - also saw him collect the round six nomination for this year's NAB Rising Star award.
The 19-year-old from Wy Yung, near Bairnsdale in Gippsland, is the first player to be nominated for the prestigious award on debut since Carlton's Andrew Walker just over two years ago.
Wallace admitted the Tigers would not have beaten Essendon on Saturday night without Polo's contribution, which is about as high a praise as a league coach can give a first gamer.
I don't think I have coached someone that has played a better debut game but now it's obviously about what you do after that."
But Wallace made it clear on Tuesday he was not expecting Polo to play at the level he did against Essendon every week from now on.
He doesn't have to get back to what he did last Saturday," Wallace said of Polo.
"That is not what our expectations are of him and if that is the supporters' expectations of him - well they are kidding themselves."
"Even the best players in the competition don't play like that every week so why would we expect a first-gamer to do it."
While Polo admitted he even surprised himself with the quality of his debut performance - in which he kicked a magnificent goal on the run to level the scores in time-on as the Tigers went on to win by two points - he is under no illusions as to where he is at in his AFL career.
"I am definitely not putting any pressure on myself," he said on Tuesday.
"I was sent out to do a job on the weekend and I did my best and I am just going to try and do that each week."
Polo said his only aim on Saturday night had been to try and curb the influence of Essendon midfielder Brent Stanton and maybe help himself to a few touches at the same time.
"I was definitely nervous going into the game but I got a lot more confident as the game went on."
Polo recently won the Anzac Day medal for best afield in the annual Coburg v Box Hill VFL clash, where he starred at centre-half-back on Hawthorn's Lance Franklin, and said that helped him prepare for his AFL debut on Saturday night.
"That helped me most definitely, playing on a good player who had played a lot of senior football last year so that gave me a lot of confidence."
The big question at Punt Road on Tuesday was, in light of Polo' stunning debut, why it had taken Wallace so long to pick him considering he was taken at pick 20 in the 2004 NAB AFL draft and spent all of last year in the VFL.
"One of the things that held him back was his likeness (in playing style) to guys like Mark Coughlan, Shane Tuck, Kane Johnson and Nathan Foley and we wondered how many "in and under" type players we could have in the same team," Wallace explained.
"We were worried about picking too many of the same type of player but when Kane pulled out (against Essendon due to hamstring soreness), he (Polo) got his chance."
But with Johnson expected to return to the side for Saturday's clash against reigning premiers Sydney at Telstra Dome, does that mean that Polo will be dropped this week?
"No, he will definitely play. It would be a brave person to drop him this week," Wallace said of Polo.
Last Modified on 26/05/2008 12:11