GWS defender Lachie Ash has revealed Western Bulldogs' captain Marcus Bontempelli spoke to him about his baptism of fire.
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The Bulldogs toppled their fierce rivals by 24 points in one of the most physical clashes in years last Friday night at Docklands.
Fifteen players were cited following the wild three-quarter time brawl, although Ash wasn't one of the seven Giants charged with engaging in a melee.
"At three-quarter time, I lined up on Marcus Bontempelli and he said, 'this is your first game, isn't it'? I said, 'yeah' and he said, 'geez, tough one to walk into'," Ash said.
The clubs have quickly developed a bitter rivalry since the 2016 preliminary final epic, which the Bulldogs won.
"A lot of boys in the backline said there's not too many games like that, it doesn't get much harder than that," Ash admitted.
"It was a bit harder than I thought, I'm not going to lie, but I knew I'd have to work hard, so it was pretty close to what I expected."
Ash shared most of his time on Mitch Wallis, Tom Liberatore and Matt Suckling.
"Mitch Wallis was pretty physical, Liberatore worked pretty hard, so I was on my toes keeping up and down with him and Suckling, you can't allow him to get the footy because he makes unbelievable decisions and he's a really good kick," Ash said.
"I'd probably say the hardest (player to play on) was Mitch Wallis, obviously playing junior footy, you're not used to that full-on body contact, especially really early, I didn't really expect it."
But Ash, who played on half-back, maintains he's physically prepared.
"I feel like I am, I don't get pushed around in the training drills or one-on-one battles," the former Murray Bushranger co-captain said.
Ash had seven disposals but, more importantly, coach Leon Cameron was satisfied.
"He thought I defended pretty well, he was happy enough with that for a first game," he offered.
Ash, who turned 19 two days after the game, had no idea he was going to be named prior to the captain's run on Thursday morning.
The video of coach Cameron's announcement to the playing group with the teenager's emotional phone call to parents Jo and Stephen has attracted more than 23,000 views on the Giants' Twitter page.
Stephen Ash was an Ovens and Murray (Albury) and Goulburn Valley (Shepparton) superstar, but his son could only laugh at dad's measured response.
"I say he's got no emotion, whether something's going really well or not too well, he's pretty much the same," Ash said.
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"It's something I look up to and try to mimic.
"Mum and dad have been great and dad's the biggest influence in my footy or my life, I look up to him."
