The Melbourne midfielder was nominated after he gathered 27 possessions in last Saturday’s loss to Carlton.
Coincidentally, he could have been a Carlton player but for the Brock McLean trade that saw pick 11 come to Melbourne.
Gysberts’ effort last week was preceded by a 26-disposal performance the previous week in his debut match against the powerful Geelong side.
While he seems to have had no problems finding his feet at AFL level, Gysberts disputes any suggestion that he has found the caper easy.
“Not really, it’s a lot hard work, and I’m just lucky to have good teammates out there like Brent Moloney and James McDonald. They give me a lot of guidance and they show me the way," he said.
Having drafted Tom Scully and Jack Trengove with their first two choices at last year’s NAB AFL Draft, the Demons used their third overall pick on the tall midfielder from Eastern Ranges.
While his fellow draftees made an immediate impact on the AFL scene, Gysberts had to wait 10 weeks before he got his chance. But he says he never watched on with any jealousy as Trengove and Scully scored their own rising star nominations.
“It’s good to get drafted with the top two picks," he said.
"I get to compare myself to the top two guys in the draft. I see up close how they go about it.”
The three youngsters have become quite close since joining Melbourne on the same day last November. Along with fellow first-year players Jack Fitzpatrick, Luke Tapscott and Max Gawn, the group spends most of their time together and meet up once a fortnight for dinner.
Upon arriving at Melbourne, Gysberts already knew a familiar face as fellow Yarra Valley Grammar student Sam Blease was already on the Demons’ list.
The pair played school football as well as junior club footy at Norwood in Melbourne’s east. Gysberts spend much of 2009 sponging information off Blease about life as an AFL player and happened to be one of the first on the scene when Blease infamously broke his leg while having a kick in the school yard.
“I was 25 metres away,” Gysberts said.
“I looked away and the next thing I know Sam was on the ground, I had no idea what happened.”
