In many regards, there’s no separating 16-year-old Stephen Coniglio from the AFL 99-gamer Stephen Coniglio.

There’s the unquestionable ability to win the ball, to stand up in the big moments, to lead with his actions.

There’s also the ready welcome he greets you with, the immediate introduction to his family if they happen to be nearby, the friendly, open manner that instantly sets you at ease.

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It was the first impression now-Hawthorn midfielder star Jaeger O’Meara had when the pair first met nine years ago as they started making their way through West Australian and Australian Institute of Sports representative teams.

“I always remember the first time I met Steve quite vividly, just because he was the first bloke to come up and introduce himself and his parents and his brothers and sisters,” O’Meara recalls.

“Ever since I’ve known Steve, he’s always been able to do that to anyone he meets, and he’s really open with anyone and can talk to anyone.”

The pair were quick to hit it off during their junior representative football career – O’Meara from the country Western Australia town of Dongara, and Coniglio from the suburbs of Perth.

By the time they were travelling with the West Australian team, they were more than happy to kick other players they’d been partnered with out of their rooms to ensure they could be roommates on the trips.

It’s a friendship that has endured nearly a decade, despite going their separate ways in the AFL system.

The GIANTS swooped on Coniglio with pick two in the 2011 NAB AFL Draft, while O’Meara headed to the Gold Coast Suns via the 2012 Draft, but the match-ups between the AFL’s two youngest clubs became a highlight for the pair.

“I used to love playing against the GIANTS when I was at the Suns, and sometimes it would be a bit weird lining up against Steve in the centre square or wherever,” O’Meara said.

“I remember one game when I was with the Suns and I was getting stuck into Jonny Patton about something, and then Steve’s come up and stood up for Jonny, and then we were running back to the centre bounce and just laughing at each other.”

They’re yet to face off with O’Meara in his new Hawks colours, but it’s another fixture they’re eagerly looking forward to.

Living in different states has made catching up during the footy season difficult for the pair, but they still keep in touch and keep a close eye on each other’s careers.

O’Meara says he’s not surprised to see Coniglio join the early group of GIANTS to reach 100 games with the club, even despite an injury-interrupted 2017 season.

“I’m sure his family and all his friends are really proud of him,” O’Meara said. “It’s a credit to the professionalism he lives his life by.

“It doesn’t really surprise me that he’s playing 100 games at such a young age, and I can’t wait to watch the next 100 – and hopefully 150 and 200. I’m really proud of him as well.

“It was a bit of an interrupted year for him last year with his ankle, so I know he was really hungry to have a good pre-season after last year, and then reset and go again.

“He’s started this year off really well – he’s looked like a bit of an animal, the way he’s playing at the moment.

“He wants to be involved in everything – he basically won the game (for the GIANTS) against Collingwood in that last quarter, with the last couple of goals that he kicked.”

The ability to win the footy is something that has always prevailed in Coniglio’s game.

To this day, there are plenty who recall his efforts in the 2010 WAFL Grand Final, in which he collected 17 disposals and booted four vital goals as a 16-year-old as his Swans Districts defeated Claremont by one point.

It was a performance O’Meara well recalls and says typifies the type of player Coniglio still is to this day.

“He’s always had the ability to win the footy … the ability to back himself in,” he said.

“He’s pretty quick with his decision-making and his reaction time, so I think that’s what’s held him in good stead, and he’s taken that to another level this year.

“Because the GIANTS have had so much talent come in the door, for the first couple of years it was really hard for him to cement his spot, but now he’s a vice-captain.

“He’s got the backing of his teammates, the backing of the coaching staff, and you can just tell that he’s got that inner belief that he can really be an elite player of the AFL.

“I’ve really noticed that he seems super hungry to be an elite player in the AFL at the moment.”

That Coniglio was elevated to the GIANTS’ leadership group, and given a vice-captaincy role, is of little surprise to those who know him.

O’Meara says he’s always had “leadership written all over him”, while former Australian cricketer Simon Katich – who ran the GIANTS’ leadership and development programs during his two-year-stint at the club from 2013-2015 – says Coniglio is a future club captain in the making.

Coniglio’s and Katich’s connection goes back much further than their time together at the GIANTS, with the pair both growing up in the same area – albeit nearly two decades apart – and representing the Midland-Guildford Cricket Club.

“We’ve known each other for a very, very long time,” Katich said.

“His dad Sandro and my mum Kerry taught together at the same primary school where we grew up in Midland, in Perth, for probably close to 30 years.

“I heard, via his mum and dad through my mum, how he was progressing. By that stage, I’d moved to Sydney … but for me, having spoken to mates at the cricket club and hearing about him coming through the cricketing ranks, and then also from my mates at the WACA where he was playing underage cricket, I was being informed of his progress.”

Coniglio had shown great ability in both Australian Rules football and cricket throughout his junior years, but Katich said the standout performance in the WAFL grand final as a 16-year-old was a pivotal moment as Coniglio weighed up which sport to pursue professionally.

But that their paths would cross again at the GIANTS towards the end of 2013 was something neither could have predicted.

“It’s unbelievable – it just goes to show how small a world it is,” Katich said.

“As fate would have it, Stephen was part of the emerging leaders group in that couple of years I was at the club.

“I think it’s no surprise he was in the group, given how highly valued he was and how well respected he was amongst the group.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s one day leading the club, given how his career has progressed, but also knowing the person he is and his background.

“He comes from a wonderful, wonderful family – and that doesn’t mean you get to captain your club, but I think the foundations that have been laid with his upbringing have turned him into a wonderful young man who’s got genuine care for the rest of his teammates and the club.”

It was that care which stands out for Katich, and many of the other coaches who have crossed Coniglio’s path, as one of his best traits as a leader.

But his on-field leadership has been just as impressive and has been particularly potent in the opening four games of the 2018 season as he’s neared his 100-game milestone.

It was particularly apparent in round two against Collingwood, where he stood up under pressure with some vital marks and goals in the final quarter to secure a heartening win for the GIANTS.

“It always helps when your actions speak louder than words,” Katich said.

“Particularly at the start of this season, given he had a tough season last year with injuries.

“It’s been great to see him really start this season strongly not only from a performance point of view, but also from a leadership point of view as well.

“When the team needed it most, he’s stood up with what he’s done on the field.”

On Saturday, Coniglio will become the eighth GIANT to reach 100 games for the club, joining teammates Callan Ward (136), Tom Scully (121), Toby Greene (119), Dylan Shiel (116), Jeremy Cameron (116) and Phil Davis (107), as well as former teammate Devon Smith (109).

“He’ll take a lot of pride out of that,” Katich said. “(But) knowing him, he won’t want it to be about him.

“He’s very humble like that, and I think it’s just a small step in his career, really, because you’d like to think he could double or even triple that number, if he can look after himself physically and given the level of ability he’s got.”