MELBOURNE'S thrilling one-point win over the Brisbane Lions has come with an additional bonus, with promising defender Colin Garland winning the round 14 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.

Garland, 20, has been holding down a key defensive role this season and has played on some of the league's most dangerous forwards including Lance Franklin, Alan Didak, Nick Riewoldt, Nathan Brown and most recently, Daniel Bradshaw.

"I guess I've been pretty consistent with my form, but I think I did alright on Bradshaw, although I didn't think it was my best game for the year," he told afl.com.au.

"I just tried not to wrestle with Bradshaw because he's a pretty big bloke, so I just tried to stay behind him and be in the contest the whole time."

Garland believes his most effective weapon is his middle-of-the-road size of 191cm, 85kg that allows him to play both big and small and face off with forwards of virtually any shape.

"I've been consistently getting better. I played alright on Franklin and on Riewoldt and I did well on Didak, and my Richmond game was pretty good," he said,

"I've had a few solid performances over time, I think.

"I'm sort of in between heights. I'm not overly as big as some players like Riewoldt and Franklin, but I'm a little bit taller than the small guys.

"It's a good mix because I can reach the tall guys and still do alright on the ground because I'm quick, so I can keep up with the small Aboriginal types or Didak or [Stephen] Milne or someone like that."

The young Tasmanian, who played just two senior games last year after being drafted with pick No.46 overall in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft, said his expanded responsibility this year has increased his confidence.

"Because I've been playing on some of the better players in the competition, you have to step up," he said.

"It's good that they've been giving me that type of opportunity because you can earn the respect of the group when you do well."

Garland grew up in North Hobart and is one of eight children, and had only 18 months of football under his belt before becoming a Demon almost two years ago.

"I started playing when I was 16, 17," he said.

"I didn't play for a period of time because I come from a single-parent family and it was hard to get to training and stuff, and then a few mates were playing and I turned up a week before pre-season and it flowed on from there.

"It was insane. I went from playing under-17s, my first game, to playing AFL in under a year."

Looking ahead, Garland hopes he can continue to fulfil a role in either defence or attack for the Demons – basically, wherever they need him to play.

"In the future, hopefully I can be a swingman and play both ends, wherever they need me to play," he said.

"At the moment, I'm just enjoying my footy down back and forming a good partnership with Matty Warnock and a few other blokes down there."