The first major accolade of Tarryn Thomas' AFL career has been described as "feeling really good" by the man himself.
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The 19-year-old, the state's first draft selection in last year's national draft at pick eight, spoke on Tuesday about joining a club that this season already includes two of his teammates at North Melbourne in Bailey Scott and Cameron Zurhaar after being named the round 12 Rising Star nominee.
"It felt really good,'' Thomas said on Tuesday.
"All the boys got around me today, which is good.
"I'm picking up the pace now (of the AFL) and playing some good footy the last couple of rounds, so hopefully I can build on that for the rest of the season."
North Launceston's Thomas was nominated following a strong game in the front-half and the midfield in the win over Gold Coast on Saturday, which saw him kick 2.1, have two goal assists and eight score involvements from 12 touches at 75 per cent disposal efficiency, three marks, two clearances and three tackles.
It continued a strong form line since his debut against Brisbane in round two, with Thomas averaging 12.4 touches, 2.6 marks and 3.2 tackles while kicking 8.7 in 10 games.
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His nomination drew praise from North Melbourne interim coach Rhyce Shaw, who said he showed composure beyond his years.
"He's an incredibly talented player," Shaw said of the former St Patrick's College student from Hadpsen.
"I've never seen a young kid come into the competition and show as much composure as Tarryn does."
Shaw is Thomas' second coach already at AFL level, saying the transition to Shaw from Brad Scott had been good as "Rhyce is a pretty good coach and a good person outside of that too".
Thomas, originally from New South Wales, also spoke about how we played rugby league before moving to Tasmania as a youngster, before electing to use the Sherrin as his weapon of choice.
He and Devonport's Ben Brown will get another chance to play in their home state with North hosting Greater Western Sydney at Blundstone Arena from 3.20pm on Sunday.
It will be Thomas' second appearance in Hobart after being part of the team that fell to Sydney by five points in round nine.
He collected 12 touches, kicked 0.2 and laid three tackles that night.
Thomas is Tasmania's first rising star nominee since Burnie's Lachie Weller at Fremantle in 2016.
Weller also polled one vote in that year's award, which was won by Sydney's Callum Mills.
Alex Fair
Deputy Editor of The Advocate on the North-West Coast of Tasmania.
Deputy Editor of The Advocate on the North-West Coast of Tasmania.
