WEST Coast's upset win over St Kilda has come with an added bonus, with Brad Ebert becoming the club's second NAB AFL Rising Star nominee for the year.
Ebert, 18, had 25 touches in the Eagles' 17-point win over the Saints and booted three goals in what was his 13th game in his debut year with the club.
"It's good to play well and to get the win up for the boys on the weekend," he said.
"Everyone was pretty pumped up. All the boys were happy at recovery and then again at weights today, so it's a pretty good feeling."
The young Eagle comes from a family with plenty of footballing experience, with his uncle Russell Ebert a Port Adelaide Magpies champion. Port Adelaide's Brett is a cousin.
As the only South Australian to win All-Australian honours at the 2007 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, the highly-touted youngster was taken by West Coast with selection No.13 in last year's NAB AFL Draft.
He made his debut in round two against Adelaide, and has already achieved his pre-season goal.
"I suppose I set a goal for myself that I would like to play half the games this year and that is all I was hoping for," he said.
"To play 13 so far has been great, although it has been in different circumstances with some of the senior players injured. But it has been great to get some experience."
"It's been good to match up against some of the more experienced players in the AFL
Ebert lined up on Travis Johnstone in round 16. On Saturday night he was pitted against experienced Saint Nick Dal Santo, and comprehensively won the battle.
His performance won the praise of teammate Matt Priddis, who described Ebert's performance as "phenomenal" in a year where the youngster has been called upon to stand up in the Eagles' depleted engine.
Ebert joins the following nominees for this year's NAB AFL Rising Star award: Bachar Houli (Essendon), Josh Hill (Western Bulldogs), Rhys Palmer (Fremantle), Kieren Jack (Sydney), Ben McKinley (West Coast), Cyril Rioli (Hawthorn), Austin Wonaeamirri (Melbourne), Kurt Tippett (Adelaide), Garrick Ibbotson (Fremantle), Nathan Brown (Collingwood), Matthew Kreuzer (Carlton), Trent Cotchin (Richmond), Jarryd Morton (Hawthorn), Colin Garland (Melbourne), Jack Riewoldt (Richmond), Kyle Reimers (Essendon).