Savage was nominated for his 26 possessions and five tackles in Sunday's win.
The Hawthorn midfielder has played all seven games in Hawthorn's senior team this season after he was unable to find his way into the line-up last year.
He says his improvement came because of an increased focus on his running in last year's pre-season.
"Something I really wanted to work on over the pre-season was my endurance. It is something I haven't been really strong on in my career," Savage told afl.com.au.
"To be able to get that up was really good and my strength was something I needed to build up to be able to compete at AFL level and I think that is something I have built up well for myself."
Savage said he knew exactly who among his teammates he should study if he was to build his aerobic base.
"Definitely Chance Bateman is someone I like to model my game on. The fact that he runs so hard during games makes him someone I want to be like," he said.
Savage was a bottom-age pick in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft where the Hawks took him with the 75th overall pick.
A midfielder from Noble Park, the same suburban club that produced Adam Ramanauskas, Darren Millane and Stephen Milne, Savage debuted in 2009 playing the final three games of the season after recovering from a shoulder reconstruction.
But he could not build on that tally in 2010, despite being named as an emergency on eight separate occasions.
He has made the most of his chances in 2011, firmly establishing himself in the Hawthorn midfield.
"It was my aim to play the best I can and it was good that I have been getting my confidence out there and getting the rising star nomination is a by-product of the way I've been going out there," he said.
Savage doesn't have a traditional football background, having arrived in Australia from his native New Zealand when he was just two years old.
He says there is a chance the AFL could follow in the path of rugby league, soccer and basketball by introducing a team from the land of the long white cloud.
"I don't think in the near future. I think it will be a very tough thing to get going. At the moment I probably don't think they could get a New Zealand team up but who knows? Hopefully they can and that would be great for the sport," he said.
But for now Savage is concentrating on just holding down his spot in the Hawthorn team.
"My goals are just to perform consistently in the team and hopefully we can get the results. But at the moment my main goal is to perform consistently."
Savage is only the third NAB AFL Rising Star nominee for Hawthorn in the past three seasons after Garry Moss in 2009 and Ben Stratton in 2010.
