Greater Western Sydney youngster Tim Taranto concedes luck may have been a factor in getting an earlier-than-expected AFL debut in round one given the club's injuries.
Taranto, the No.2 selection in last year's draft, will run onto Adelaide Oval against the Crows on Sunday after impressing coach Leon Cameron during pre-season.
He averaged 17 touches in three matches.
Despite injuries to midfield guns Brett Deledio and Stephen Coniglio, and Lachie Whitfield's lengthy AFL ban paving the way for his debut, the 18-year-old Victorian is ready to make his mark against a dangerous Crows outfit.
"I guess you could say I'm fortunate, who knows? But I'll just try and play as best as I can this week," Taranto told reporters on Thursday.
"That's all I can do."
Taranto has had an inkling he'd get the call-up after star recruit Deledio and new vice-captain Coniglio went down in recent weeks.
Cameron said Taranto's toughness, displayed by his ability to recover quickly from a huge hip-and-shoulder from Sydney's Lance Franklin in pre-season, was among his strongest qualities.
"He's tough. He puts his head over the footy every contest," Cameron said.
Taranto will need every bit of resilience against Adelaide, who are expected to occupy the top end of the ladder this season along with the Giants.
GWS lost to the Crows in Adelaide last year, but Cameron was spruiking a pre-season focus on defence to counter the highly-rated opposition attack including Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts, Josh Jenkins and Tom Lynch.
He says his side can beat anyone anywhere.
"We probably don't want it to turn into a shoot-out, even though the general public probably wants to see a shoot-out," Cameron said.
"We have got to make sure we play some really good defence.
"We feel as though we're a side that belongs in the competition in the last couple of years.
"We're a real club. It's not just the club of a few years ago made up of kids. We look forward to that like any other game, if it were Adelaide in Adelaide or the Eagles in Perth."
Cameron is expecting star midfielder Rory Sloane to play despite him being under a cloud due to a facial injury.
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