Stephen Coniglio

Early life and junior career

Born in Greenmount, Western Australia, Coniglio's father has Italian heritage and his mother has English heritage. Coniglio attended La Salle College, a co-educational Catholic high school in Middle Swan. In his final year, he served as the school's head boy. Growing up, Coniglio excelled at both cricket and football. He played grade cricket for Midland-Guildford in the WACA district cricket competition. In five First Grade matches he made 111 runs at an average of 22.20 and taken five wickets at an average of 42.00, including 3/35 on his debut. Coniglio played both under-15 and under-17 cricket for Western Australia. He made 106 not out in the final of the 2009 National Under-15 Championships, the highest score by a Western Australian ever recorded at the tournament. In the 2010–11 Australian Under-17 Championships, he made 146 runs at an average 24.33, with a best of 78 not out against Victoria.

Coniglio also played junior football for Upper Swan Junior Football Club, falling into Swan Districts' WAFL recruitment zone. He made his senior debut for Swan Districts against Perth in round 22, 2010, at Steel Blue Oval, gathering 26 possessions and kicking two goals. In the 2010 WAFL Grand Final, he gathered 17 possessions and kicked four goals to be considered one of the best on the ground. Only Geoff Hendriks has won a WAFL premiership at a younger age. Coniglio won the 2011 WAFL Rising Star Award, with a prize of $2000. At the age of 16, Coniglio represented Western Australia at the 2010 National Under 18 Championships, and captained Western Australia the following year at the 2011 Championships. He won the Larke Medal as the best player of the tournament, as well as being named Western Australia's most valuable player, and was selected on a wing in the Under 18 All-Australian team.

Senior career

In September 2011, Coniglio confirmed he would nominate for the 2011 National Draft, ending speculation about which sport he would choose to play professionally. Considered likely to be selected by Greater Western Sydney with one of the first five picks in the draft, Coniglio was selected by Greater Western Sydney with pick two in the draft. He made his senior debut for the club in round one of the 2012 season, recording 17 disposals in a 63-point loss to Sydney. In round seven, after a 31-possession game in Greater Western Sydney's inaugural win over Gold Coast, Coniglio was nominated for the 2012 AFL Rising Star. Midway through the season, he injured his thumb, and missed four games after undergoing surgery. In total, he played 12 games for Greater Western Sydney in his debut season, spending parts of the latter half of the season with the club's reserves team in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL).

Statistics