THERE is no faster way of earning recognition in the AFL than to become a Collingwood cult hero.
And the latest man to be dubbed a Magpie fan favourite, Alex Fasolo, admits that the attention can be a bit confronting.
"It's quite overwhelming. I joined Twitter just a few days ago and there were a few followers already. It's a huge supporter base and it's great," Fasolo said.
But Fasolo's teammates are keen to make sure he doesn't get too carried away with himself despite the solid start to his AFL career.
Anyone following Fasolo and his teammates on Twitter would have seen in the past week that some of his more senior teammates rarely miss an opportunity to have a shot at the Magpies goalsneak.
Dale Thomas and Tyson Goldsack have taken great delight in pointing out Fasolo's ample behind, christening him 'Beyonce Bum', while Thomas posted a photo of Fasolo reading an article about himself.
Not that he seems to mind.
"It's just a bit of banter around the club. The boys are all in on it. Just a bit of harmless fun. They keep me grounded, it's good," he said.
Fasolo has been a hit in his first nine games, booting five goals in the round 19 win over Essendon before a 19-possession, two-goal performance in Saturday night's win over the Brisbane Lions earned him a NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.
It is a credit to the 19-year-old that he has made such an impact in a team that is defending a premiership and has earned a reputation for its depth.
Fasolo, Ben Sinclair and Tom Young all made significant contributions to the win after making their debuts this year.
Fasolo says the Magpies' ability to bring through so many young players who are ready-made is a credit to their development program.
"Guys like Tarkyn Lockyer and Craig McRae, our development guys, help the young kids out and they've done a lot for me," he said.
"As well as the overall structure that Collingwood and Mick [Malthouse] has put together helps. It doesn't matter who comes into the team, they play their role and know exactly what's asked of them. That makes it a lot easier."
Following Simon Prestigiacomo's retirement last year, the Magpies started a new tradition where they hand the No.35 guernsey to the club's first draft pick each year.
With Gold Coast taking most of the early picks and the Magpies trading their first round pick away for Andrew Krakouer, they had to wait until pick 45 to enter the draft where they chose Fasolo from WAFL club East Fremantle.
He has had a bit to do with Prestigiacomo since arriving at the club while he met the man who made the number 35 famous at Victoria Park, Peter Daicos, for the first time several weeks ago.
Like Daicos, who saved some of his most mercurial football for the finals, Fasolo is hoping he gets his chance to show his worth on the big stage.
"I'd love to play some finals but there are still some blokes to come back in," Fasolo said.
"There are five or six who are pretty much certainties to come back into the team. But I'm not looking that far ahead, I'm just looking to play Fremantle this weekend."
