At the club he is just one member of a 44-man squad, a 22-player team on game day, who has his role to play. And he goes about the business of preparing to play like every other player at the Eagles.
West Coast captain Darren Glass can understand why those people outside the inner sanctum are infatuated with the output of the young ruckman, but said today there was no pressure within because there was a strong understanding of Naitanui’s progress.
“Internally it’s not an issue,” Glass said today. “Internally we know the hard work he is putting in, the character he’s got, the base he’s coming from. So internally there’s no pressure on Nic.
“We’re comfortable where he’s at, that he’s got another couple of gears, but externally it’s different. That’s fine. That happens in AFL where the expectations of the public and the media are different; he’s been through this sort of stuff before.
“I’m really comfortable with the work he’s putting in. I thought he was pretty good against Port Adelaide. I haven’t had a look at his game from the weekend, but it’s not always just about stats.
“I have played poor games. I didn’t have a big impact on the last quarter against Port Adelaide. That happened. Nic has a big profile, so I’m not surprised he has received a lot of attention.”
