HAVING joined a club of Geelong's current calibre, emerging defender Harry Taylor has found things surreal at times.

Taylor is just 21, and his startling introduction to the big time continued on Saturday afternoon when he was asked to stand St Kilda spearhead Nick Riewoldt at Telstra Dome in just his third senior game.

"After watching Riewoldt play throughout the last couple of years, it was always a dream to actually play on him," Taylor told gfc.com.au after the Cats' 42-point win.

"To get the opportunity was great. You learn how to run with the sorts of patterns he runs, and about his work rate, because obviously he's got one of the best work rates in the AFL.

"You learn about how he moves around the field. He does so much work away from the ball to actually get the ball, so you learn to appreciate how much work he really does."

Having played on Brisbane Lions' champion Jonathan Brown in the pre-season, Taylor won coach Mark Thompson’s backing to take on Riewoldt in regular centre half-back Matt Egan’s absence.

Thompson called Taylor's game on Saturday “outstanding”.

"We weren't that unhappy about Tommy [Harley]'s game either, but we put Harry on [Riewoldt] and he played well,” Thompson said.

"Harry's played three games and it's a great achievement to play on someone like Riewoldt. It's a great experience for him."

While initially daunted, Taylor said he’s improving quickly among the side's talented back six.

"I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable now, and obviously I've got some pretty incredible support around me," he said.

"I've got some of the best teachers in the competition so that's helped me a lot more and made it a little easier than if I was going to a side where the backline wasn't so established.

"It's hard to get into the side, but if you do get there, it can be sometimes a good reward because the other guys look after you and made you look pretty good."

Egan, whose persistent foot problem has opened the door for Taylor, has been keen to help.

"I talk to him quite a bit about different players that he's played on, and leading into the game I have a few chats to him and we look at video edits together," Taylor said.

"But 'Scarlo' [Matthew Scarlett] and 'Dash' [Darren Milburn] and 'Harls' [Tom Harley], they're all full of information and at training they're always around giving me little pointers.

"The whole lot of them are excellent teachers and I'm sure they'd be excellent teachers in the real world after footy, if they wanted to."