HUGH McCluggage's family farm houses about 600 cows and is spread over 700 acres of land. 

He grew up at the Naringal property, about 20 minutes from Warrnambool in Victoria's south, and regularly helped his dad Sam in the process of milking and yarding the cows, harvesting on the tractor and running the dairy estate.

"We can see the neighbours from our place but they're a fair way away. There's paddocks and trees in between, so we've got plenty of goal posts to kick through," said McCluggage, who now lives in Ballarat and is shaping as the possible No.1 pick at this year's NAB AFL Draft.

"I don't head home as much as I did last year, but I love getting back there. I enjoy the open spaces where you can run around and let some energy off."

McCluggage hasn't had much trouble finding open space this season, a key factor in his rise to be one of the top prospects for the 2016 draft pool.

The midfielder's consistent and brilliant season has seen him head into the home straight of the year as perhaps the leading candidate for the first pick in an unusually open field. But even he didn't really see it coming.

"It's been a bit of a surprise, to be honest," he said.

McCluggage isn't the only person taken aback by his rise. The classy and composed midfielder arrived in Ballarat at the start of last year, having moved from Warrnambool to Clarendon College for a schooling opportunity. 

He'd played in an under-16s carnival in 2014, but when the pre-season started for the Rebels' 2015 campaign, he wasn't sure if he was good enough to be there.

"I had my doubts then," the 18-year-old told AFL.com.au. "I was pretty disappointed with my under-16s carnival, even though it was only three games. I was a bit underdeveloped and timid and didn't know whether I belonged in that grade."

After some encouragement, McCluggage started training and was soon in the Rebels' team. He didn't have to show much to get noticed: he was clean in possession, set others up, and was a smart, crafty player around goal, albeit lightly built.

The right people were watching, and late in McCluggage's bottom-age year he was upgraded to the NAB AFL Academy level two squad of the best 35 players in the country. He didn't see himself in that sort of company.

Huge McCluggage is a genuine contender to be drafted at pick No.1. Picture: AFL Photos

"I knew I had a lot of work to go when I got added because it was off a bit of potential more than anything, and they hadn't seen a lot of me," he said.

"I felt like I had to justify getting into it, and I found it hard at the start when I first joined the academy at camps."

Making that harder was a back injury that sidelined him for much of the pre-season. But since then, McCluggage has wasted no time. He started the year with strong back-to-back games for the Academy against VFL teams, and carried that form through to the championships, where he was Vic Country's best player and an All Australian.

McCluggage's poise, sure skills, turn of pace and ability to kick goals gives him the all-round game that clubs at the top of the draft are looking for. He has averaged 29.5 disposals, six clearances and two goals in eight TAC Cup games, and at the carnival picked up an average of 21 touches in four games.

Put simply, McCluggage has barely played a bad game all year, and with every good one has nudged his way further up the draft order. So much so that he is now a genuine favourite to be the No.1 pick, and with 37 disposals and two goals in the Rebels' most recent outing, his grip on that position is tightening.

"I tend not to look at it too much," he admits.

"Wherever you go in the draft, once you're at a club, everyone's got an equal shot of building a career and playing well. My aim is still to get drafted, and whether it is up the high end or down the lower end doesn't really fuss me.

"I haven't really noticed the talk [of going early in the draft] until I've been home and you get people asking how you're going, and that's not just of me, but also mum and dad.

"They might go down the street and have people ask how I'm going, because I'm in Ballarat now and they can't ask me myself. I feel a little bit for them because they're pretty modest people and they keep a lid on it, and I look up to both my parents very much."

McCluggage has averaged 29.5 disposals and two goals in eight TAC Cup games. Picture: AFL Photos

Getting ahead of himself won't be an issue for the quietly-spoken but assured McCluggage. However, his growing self-belief on the field has made for more of a presence off it.

McCluggage admits the Rebels couldn't get a word out of him when he first arrived at the club. He still isn't the most vociferous prospect, but he runs the club's 'fines' night after its Thursday training sessions and has a dry sense of humour that is creeping out more and more.

"I take a bit to come out of my shell, but the academy helped me grow not only as a footballer but also as a person. I've had to really work on that ability to open up to people," he said.

"But living in the boarding house and being involved in the footy club has really helped me develop and come out a bit and make new mates, but not just that, also build good relationships with other people in footy."

One of those has been with Rebels talent manager Phil Partington, who has seen McCluggage work through the growing spotlight that has come throughout this season.

"We had a conversation one night on the way back from footy about the farm, but I don't know whether he was interested or just taking the p*** out of me," McCluggage said.

"He asked how many cows I've got and whether I've got a favourite one. I said there's 600 and they all look the same, so probably not."