IT IS usually said with some level of criticism for a younger player to be “taught a lesson” when faced with a more accomplished opponent.

But in Tom Curren’s case, the phrase “taught a lesson” has actually been a positive in his recent battles with some of the AFL’s elite midfielders.

In the past two weeks, Curren has faced Sydney Swan star Daniel Hannebery after running with Hawthorn midfielder Sam Mitchell for the second half of the previous match.

[ RELATED: Bright future ahead for Saints ]

The match-up with Hannebery was possibly Curren’s breakout performance in just the fifth match of his career. He kept the Swan, who has been talked about in Brownlow discussions, to just 16 disposals while gathering 20 of his own.

In the lead-up to the Swans match, Saints coach Scott Watters spoke publicly about the opportunity for the youthful St Kilda team to learn from the reigning premiers.

Curren’s jobs on Hannebery and Mitchell was a classic example of learning from exposure to the premier midfielders of the competition.

“It fast-tracks my learning and they are obviously very good players and proven players. I learn off them and how they get the footy and what they do without the footy. It is good to learn from the best.”

Curren says he has found that players in the class of Hannebery and Mitchell taught him as much about the defensive part of his game as he has learned about the offensive side of things.

[ RELATED: Fresh direction for Saints rookies ]

“You learn how hard they work when they don’t have the football and the positions they get to. Their running patterns without the football as well, so if they can’t influence one contest they are already working out how they can influence the next contest,” he said.

“It is about being more proactive in my game rather than reactive so I am trying to learn as much as I can in that aspect.”

The 21-year-old praised Watters for helping instil belief in himself after he made his senior debut two and a half years after arriving at the Saints as a rookie.

“He has been pretty supportive. He says he believes in me and I just have to believe in myself because he believes I’m able to compete with them,” he said.

“He has given me enormous confidence.”

Curren is one of eight players to make their AFL debuts for St Kilda this year and says there is a bond among St Kilda’s emerging young players.

“We do have a good core group of mates at the moment. The boys in their first few years at the club stick together because there are a lot of us,” he said.

“The majority of the boys on the list are in that age bracket. We do try to stick together and it would be great if we could all have long careers at the club.”