He’s not as well-known as some of the club’s recent draftees but country boy Nathan Wardius certainly put his name on the radar last weekend with an eye-catching performance in the club’s huge VFL win over Sandringham.

Drafted to the club as a Category B Rookie in the 2023 Draft, Wardius has continued to impress through the club’s VFL side and on Sunday in Blacktown he took it to another level with a monster eight-goal haul in the club’s 108-point win over the Zebras.

A crafty 181cm forward with great hands overhead and a dangerous threat at ground level, Wardius’ bag of tricks was on full display as he finished with 22 disposals, 12 marks, two tackles and eight goals in a brilliant, best-on-ground display.

A country boy from Walbundrie about 50km north of Albury, the 20-year-old was a member of the GIANTS Academy as a teenager before Covid interruptions saw him ultimately decide to give up his AFL dreams and quit school at the end of year 11 to work on his family’s sheep farm.

His aspirations resurfaced however when Wardius was picked by the GIANTS in the 2023 Draft following some impressive performances playing in the Hume Football Netball League, as well as a couple of strong showings for the club’s VFL side that year.

Affectionately known at the club as ‘Thugger,’ Wardius says Sunday’s starring eight-goal performance was just reward for effort as he continues his push for an AFL debut in a stacked GIANTS forward line.

“I feel like I’ve been pushing hard and training well and playing some consistent footy so it was good to get a little bit of reward and a little bit of luck go my way,” Wardius said.

“I got a couple [goals] early on the weekend and then when I went in at half-time with four [goals] I thought I could go hard and could maybe get a couple more and I was able to do that which was nice.”

While the weekend’s haul didn’t trump the career-high 11 goals he kicked playing local footy prior to being drafted, Wardius is just grateful his body is healthy and allowing him to show what he can do.

“Last year I spent the first half of the season injured [shin splints] and not playing and that was hard learning to deal with injury as I’d never really had to do before, “he said.

“Then I got back playing in the back half of the year and it was about learning my role and the way the GIANTS play as opposed to just running around and doing what I like as I did back home.

“Then I felt like I had a good pre-season and I got my body in really good shape and so I’m just grateful to be playing footy now and being consistent and keeping my body right.”

While the young farm boy at heart says he’s still adjusting to life living in the big smoke of Sydney - where he’s housed with teammates Harvey Thomas, Phoenix Gothard and Joe Fonti - Wardius says it’s a surreal but amazing experience living out the AFL dream he thought was over not too long ago.

“It’s very cool getting to do something you love for a living,” he said.

“I’ve played footy my whole life and growing up I think it’s every kids dream to play AFL and I certainly didn’tthink any of this would happen two years ago.

“When Covid hit and I left the [GIANTS] Academy and left school and went back to the farm I’d sort of given up a little bit and sort of went to the reality of I’ll go back and work on the farm and play footy at my local club.

“So now to be here with the possibility of playing AFL is very exciting. That’s certainly my focus, it’s everyone’s focus, that’s why we are here.

“There is such a great culture here and everyone is looking to make you better and help push you.

“And I idolised Toby [Greene] growing up and he’s always someone I wanted to play like and be like so it’s pretty cool to be teammates with him and play alongside him.

“It still doesn’t feel quite right that playing AFL is a possibility. It’s obviously a dream but I just need to go out there and play footy and if it happens it happens.”