Nick Coffield enjoyed a solid start to his AFL career at St Kilda, finishing the year with 10 senior games to his name and showing all the makings of a future star.

Renowned for his strong leadership skills and composure at such a young age, the classy 18-year-old earned his debut in Round 3 against Adelaide, amassing 18 touches and six marks across half-back.

Emulating the nous of former smooth-mover Nick Dal Santo in his first few matches, last year’s pick No. 8 played the next six games for the Saints before seeing out the remainder of the year primarily in the VFL.

WATCH: Coffield's first goal

Able to drift between the midfield and half-back, the ex-Northern Knights skipper made the most of his abilities against Greater Western Sydney in Round 5 (18 disposals, 11 marks) before finding his home down in defence.

Coffield also enjoyed solid outings against Geelong (17 disposals) and Melbourne (21 disposals), the latter of which also featured roommate and fellow teammate, Hunter Clark.

Armed with excellent agility despite his 191cm, Coffield’s combination of mobility and height allowed him to play as both a key defender and an effective interceptor.

Coffield showed enough to catch the eye of Director of Coaching Danny Sexton, who was rapt with the youngster’s debut season.

“Nick’s good footy is based on good speed, good change of direction and good ball use,” Sexton said.

“We think his progress as a first-year player was really strong, he played 10 games which is a good start.”

His transitional game and ability to rebound quickly ultimately grounded the young defender across half-back, a position he also took up for Sandringham in the latter stages of the year.

“Nick started off in the midfield as a wingman and played quite a bit of footy for us early in the season, then he spent a bit of time in the VFL,” Sexton said.

“We moved him to defence about halfway through the year, and he’s now working on his game as a defender.”

Averaging 20 touches per outing for the Zebras, Coffield’s form translated well during his time in the senior St Kilda line-up, ending the season with an average just shy of 15 disposals.

Even more impressive was the effectiveness of the young Saint, whose disposal efficiency of 85% was just below that of team leaders Nathan Brown (87%), Daniel McKenzie (87%) and Josh Bruce (86%).

While the youngster will hope to improve his contested play, endurance and tackling prowess going into next season, Coffield nonetheless made his mark in his debut year.