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No. 2 pick Coniglio excited to be with GWS

Friday, 25th November 2011

By Chris Pike

SWAN Districts midfielder Stephen Coniglio is delighted to be heading to the Greater Western
Sydney Giants after being taken with the No. 2 pick in Thursday's NAB AFL Draft as one of the
brightest young stars in the game.

While there has been plenty of speculation that Coniglio could be the No. 1 pick in the draft ever
since he starred in Swan Districts league premiership in 2010, in the end he was only too happy to be
taken just behind Jonathon Patton.

Given the top five picks all went to the Giants anyway, the difference is minute. Coniglio was happy
for the Victorian big man that he did get the prestigious No. 1 pick, though, and he is sure the pair
will be forming a strong bond on and off the field as stars of the new GWS team for some time now.

Considering that most of the Giants players will be living in the Breakfast Point community in
western Sydney as well, then there will be plenty of time to bond as well.

"It would have been fantastic to go No. 1, but Jon deserves it and he is a fantastic player. I wasn’t
disappointed but I wasn’t relieved, it was just a feeling that I am blessed and grateful to be here in
the top-five," Coniglio said.

"It's fantastic and he's a great guy. It's a good idea to have everyone living in the same vicinity. 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."

Coniglio has proven himself in 11 league games as Swan Districts as being a star performer winning
the ball in the midfield, running and carrying it, delivering it with good skill and also showing an
ability to kick crucial goals.

Given he has also captained WA at the national 18s carnival and won the Larke Medal as the player
of those championships as well, the 17-year-old could hardly have better credentials to enter the
AFL with.

Despite all of that, he did have a decision to make to follow a football or cricket career, but now that
he has been drafted into the AFL he has no doubt he made the right choice.

"My initial thoughts were that if I get an opportunity to play AFL footy, I've always been one to
believe that if you get an opportunity to grab it with both hands. I was really excited about the
prospect of coming here to Greater Western Sydney."

While the Giants have plenty of young draftees in their team now, there are also some veterans to
show the way like Luke Power, Chad Cornes, James McDonald and Dean Brogan.

Power, the triple Brisbane Lions premiership midfielder, has already sat the young group down for a
chat and Coniglio certainly has taken what he said on board.

"Luke Power talked to us and he said that there had been a lot written about the amount of talent
that we have and all of the first-round picks we have, but it's not going to come easy," Coniglio said.

"There's no one better to hear it from I suppose, he developed in the Brisbane team and won three
premierships. The one message he really drummed in was that nothing was going to come easy in
footy. We all need to stay together and build a strong team."