ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson says his young defender Daniel Talia should be given the AFL's prestigious Rising Star award right now.

But before we hang the medal around Talia's neck, let's look at what Jeremy Cameron has achieved this year.

The 19-year-old won't play the final three games of the GWS Giants' first season, preferring to go under the knife for surgery on his injured hip.

But regardless, Cameron's output this season has provided a staggering 20 per cent of all goals scored by the Giants.

His 29 goals from 16 games is significantly better than any of the game's current superstars produced in their debut seasons.

Better than Lance Franklin (21 goals from 20 games), Matthew Pavlich (14 from 18), Jonathan Brown (5 from 13), Nick Riewoldt (2 from 6) and Travis Cloke (10 from 15).

His haul is better than Tony Lockett, who kicked 19 goals from 12 games in his first season.

Jason Dunstall is the only forward from the past three decades to surpass Cameron's numbers in his first year. The Hawk great kicked 36 goals from 16 games.

While Dunstall played alongside plenty of seasoned champions in his debut year at Hawthorn, Cameron is part of the AFL's newest team in what has been a challenging first year.

The Giants have had the fewest opportunities to score so far this season, averaging just 38 possessions inside 50 per game.

"The general consensus is it's harder to play as a key forward than a key back," Giants coach Kevin Sheedy said.

It's also worth noting that Talia has been in the AFL system for three years. When he was drafted in 2009, Cameron was playing for the tiny Victorian town of Dartmoor and had yet to see a live game of AFL.

In other news, Riewoldt has been ruled out of St Kilda's clash against Geelong tonight.

He had been pushing to return from a leg injury but doctors gave him the thumbs down.Saints coach Scott Watters is unsure when Riewoldt will rejoin the side.

Originally published as Cameron's the real Star turn