This wasn't supposed to happen this year. Marcus Windhager was supposed to miss most – if not all – of 2022 due to a bulging disc that was expected to require back surgery. But something unexpected has transpired. 

The 19-year-old has played 17 games for St Kilda since being selected with pick No.47 in last year's NAB AFL Draft, after the Saints matched a bid by Geelong to secure the services of the club's Next Generation Academy (NGA) product. Only Collingwood's Nick Daicos (21 games) and Hawthorn’s Connor Macdonald (19) have played more games in 2022 of last year's draftees. 

Windhager arrived in Moorabbin with the injury that curtailed his season at the Sandringham Dragons and prevented him from testing at the NAB AFL Draft Combine, facing the prospect of surgery at the start of this year. 

But under the watch of St Kilda's rehab coordinator Marcus Krygger and strength and conditioning coach Steve Forcone, Windhager ticked off one thing at a time. First, he ran. Then he started drills. And then contact. Rebuilding his body in the gym, rather than in an operating theatre. Suddenly he got to February and was ready to play some games. 

After only two VFL games, Brett Ratten picked Windhager to make his debut against Hawthorn in round four. He has only missed one game since then, earning plenty of internal recognition across the season.

Those inside RSEA Park have been blown away by his competitiveness and professionalism at such a young age. He is often spotted in the ice baths after 7pm and constantly asking for advice on how to get better faster. He isn't going to die wondering how good he could have been. 

"Towards the end of last year, I thought I was going to have surgery and miss most of this year," Windhager told AFL.com.au after earning the round 22 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination. 

"As I got involved in the program and started ticking over in my rehab, seeing the physios and constantly getting treatment on my back it started to get better and started making really slow progressions throughout pre-season. 

Windhager produced quarters and patches of captivating football in the first half of the season, but it is his work as a tagger that has put him on the map in the past month. That role was first put on his radar when midfield coach Ben McGlynn came up to him at a training session ahead of the Saints' trip to Perth to face West Coast in round 19. 

Tim Kelly was his assignment and he nailed the brief, holding the Eagles star to just four disposals – the lowest count of his career, 14 lower than his previous lowest in 2022 – while accumulating a career-high 23 disposals of his own. If Jamarra Ugle-Hagan didn't kick five goals that weekend, Windhager would have already had a Rising Star nomination before Monday. 

Ratten has since sent him to All-Australian Cam Guthrie and Rising Star contender Jai Newcombe, before sitting him on Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale last Friday night. Windhager restricted the four-time best-and-fairest winner – who is favourite for this year's Brownlow Medal – to a season-low 16 disposals, nearly half his average of 30.2 per game, while collecting 21 disposals and five clearances of his own. 

“Clearly he is a star and has been for a while now. I talked to a few of the senior boys that have played against him before like Sebby [Ross] and Steeley (Jack Steele). They gave me a few pointers about some of his go-to moves at stoppages. That went a long way to helping me on Friday night," Windhager said.

"I watched a lot of vision on his patterns and his work at stoppages with Benny McGlynn. It's a challenging role and you are nervous heading into it, but it helps when you've got guys going over stuff with you."

Windhager isn't the only St Kilda draftee who has made an impression in his first season. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera has displayed signs of why he was taken in the first round, while Mitch Owens also arrived in Moorabbin via the Saints' Next Generation Academy program and has demonstrated enough at AFL and VFL level to show he has a bright future. 

Owens and Windhager grew up together in bayside. They were inseparable as kids, playing footy together for Beaumaris from under-9s all the way to NAB League, as well as basketball for the Sandringham Sabres from under-12s to under-16s. They played hundreds of games together in juniors before reuniting at the Saints. 

"I've known Mitch since we were six years old. We went to primary school together and were best mates. We've literally played in every sports team together," he said. 

"We drifted apart going to different high schools, but funnily enough we both ended up at the Saints. It's pretty awesome that we've ended up playing together again and it's awesome to see that he's playing AFL footy as well and stringing together some really good games.”

Basketball was a major part of Windhager's life until he moved from St Bede's College to Haileybury College in Year 11. After representing Australia in the 2018 FIBA Under-15 Oceania Championships, football became increasingly important to him under the guidance of Essendon great Matthew Lloyd, who coaches the First XVIII at Haileybury. 

"All the way up until Year 11 and Year 12, basketball was my biggest thing at the time. It was what I loved to do and took up pretty much all of my weekends and most mornings throughout the week. It was something I loved," he said.

"I played footy as well. But towards the end of Year 10 I drifted away from basketball and wanted to play footy a bit more. That had a bit to do with moving schools to Haileybury. Loved everything about it at school and just wanted to keep playing footy."

Not too much was new for Windhager and Owens when they turned up at the club in November. The pair were members of the NGA and were two of four draftees – Jack Peris and Josiah Kyle were the other two – to end up on the list at the end of last season after spending two years in the program run by St Kilda great Nick Dal Santo. 

"Despite the pandemic, when we were able to come into RSEA I think Mitch and I both look back on it as being huge for us in that after getting drafted we'd already seen this place, knew where everything was and had trained with the senior boys previously," he said. 

"I think it made the transition really smooth for us. The NGA program was really beneficial for us with access to the resources and learning off a coach like Nick Dal Santo, who was such a smart footballer. It gave us a taste of the ins and outs of AFL footy."

One season doesn't make a career, but you get the sense with Windhager that he isn't going anywhere.