By Luke Holmesby

Pre-season Rising Star favouritism, by its very definition, tends to be a stab in the dark.

Football fans and experts making their predictions for the year ahead will often look no further than the order of draft picks to get a gauge on the most likely to win the NAB AFL Rising Star award.

So it came that no. 1 draft pick David Swallow entered the AFL season as a hot favourite to take out the most prestigious award for up and coming players despite the fact most of the football world hadn't actually seen him play.

It may have surprised many that Swallow had to wait until 14 weeks into the season before he earned a nomination, but the Gold Coast SUNS midfielder says he was taken aback when he heard the news that his 21-possession, two-goal game against the Western Bulldogs had got him over the line.

"I was pretty surprised. Tom Lynch had a good game for us on the weekend and I think a couple of the boys thought he was going to get it," Swallow said.

"I'm pretty surprised but also pretty happy at the same time."

Swallow is the third Gold Coast SUNS player to be nominated for the award this season after Zac Smith and his housemate Brandon Matera.

He felt no pressure to be nominated, and said living with high external expectations was just part of the life of a no.1 draft pick.

"You can't really control where you get picked up and what number," Swallow said.

"I guess there was probably a bit of pressure at the start of the year but you just concentrate on the things you can control - that's to play good footy and play your role within the team.

"I'd gotten a bit of stick from the boys for not getting one (a nomination). I was just trying to play some good consistent footy, and I think I've been able to play some consistent footy throughout the year without really dominating or doing overly well. I'm just trying to get used to playing AFL footy, I guess."

It is no secret that the GC SUNS had Swallow in their sights well before they selected him in last year's NAB AFL Draft. He had moved to the Gold Coast from Western Australia a year earlier and spent a season as a Gold Coast player in the VFL, where he finished fourth in the Liston Trophy as the competition's best and fairest.

The GC SUNS were so confident that Swallow could handle the hype of being the top pick that his face adorned banners all around town in the days leading up to the draft.

While Swallow came to the AFL's 17th club with big wraps, he says he has found areas he could improve in his first season.

"I think my run and carry has improved a little bit. (Assistant coaches) Kenny Hinkley and Shane O'Bree have encouraged me to take the game on as well, break lines and that kind of stuff," he said.

"My stoppage area of the game was quite good at the start of the season. I've gone away from that a little bit over the past month or two, so I'm looking to get a few clearances from stoppages in the latter half of the year."