“I just want to be my own sort of player,” he says. “I want people in the future to go ‘Geez, I wish I played like Adam Treloar’.”

The 21-year-old’s confidence may be warranted. He declares he in career-best form following his 33-possession, 14-tackle rampage against the Demons last round and he leads the team’s overall disposals and tackle counts. He boldly adds: “I don’t think I’m even close to where I could be in a few years’ time.”

It must be music to the ears of Greater Western Sydney. The feisty midfielder, described by Giants godfather Kevin Sheedy as a likely future Hall of Fame player, is the embodiment of everything they wanted to achieve, having been nurtured from a talented but timid teenager from Dandenong into a self-assured star in the making. His is the type of spirit surging through the team as they enter Saturday’s clash with the Bulldogs seeking a third win from four starts.

“When we played the Bulldogs last year, it was a very close game and we were shattered to lose,” Treloar says. “But the experience and growth in the group even just since that time has been enormous. We’re different people, different players and if we get the win we’ll be full of confidence.”

He speaks from experience.

“It was back in 2010 and I was only 17,” Treloar says looking back on his trip so far.

“I was moving away from my friends and family. It was very difficult because I was extremely close with my family. I thought I was going to really struggle. In our first year especially, in the NEAFL, I was injured a fair bit and I just wanted to be back home.

“But the club really looked after me. As soon as I came here, I felt like I was part of another family. We had great support. Our welfare manager Craig Lambert and his family were enormous for my development. I can’t think of a better place to play and I hope I can play here for the rest of my life.”

Treloar counts himself “blessed” to have grown in an elite football structure without the burden of being a top draft pick or being thrown into battle.

“That first year in the NEAFL, being around a club that was set up for an AFL environment, without the pressure of playing in the AFL, was so helpful,” he says. “We were constantly around the club, trying to get better, reviewing games.

“I’d been pre-listed, with Jeremy Cameron, Curtly Hampton and Dylan Shiel, and we didn’t have any pressure. If one of us had gone No.1 [in the draft] it would have been a lot of stress. But we were blessed not to experience that.”

Instead, Treloar was able to find his feet largely at his own pace. And the results have been eye-catching, personally and professionally. After one of his good performances early on, he sat next to Sheedy in a news conference blushing and giggling, in stark contrast to his demeanour today.

“I’ve definitely grown,” he says. “One of the things is you’ve got to be able to talk to people. When I first got here I used to get that nervous, that shy, about talking to people. But gradually I got more comfortable with it. I want to be a leader at the club, too, and you’ve got to be confident with that sort of thing.”