TOM Green hardly needs reminding of the day that not only turned his life around, but also upside down.

But the Marist College graduate has learned the many lessons ever since, just 14 matches into a promising AFL career with the GWS Giants.

The 20-year-old’s performance in loss to Richmond has earned a second nomination for the prestigious Rising Star award after a gilt-edged preseason that was wedged in between two hectic rookie seasons.

“A fair bit of it was just getting another preseason under my belt, getting fitter and also getting stronger, which I was really happy with,” Green told AFL.com.au.

“It was also continuing to improve my outside game.

“I’m generally pretty strong in the contest and that’s my great strength, but I’m continuing to develop my outside game and how I get involved in the game away from the contest.”

Green is the fourth player this year to be nominated for a second time after Lachie Sholl, Mitch Georgiades and Luke Jackson had also appeared less than 10 times before the start of the 2021 season while still aged under 20 years old.

After such a meteoric rise in the game, it is still too easy to reflect on the day when Green all but secured his spot on an AFL list even before the Giants drafted the 192cm prospect.

He collected a mammoth 33-possession match that had not only help steer the Allies that includes the ACT towards an historic win over Victoria Metro in the 2019 national under-18 championships, but a top-10 selection in that year’s AFL draft.

“It was probably my best game for the year and I was really happy with it,” Green said.

“But I also got a fair bit of perspective later in the day.”

The grandson of four-time Richmond premiership hero Michael Green was so enthusiastic to hear back from family that watched the live streamed game from Geelong that he grabbed his mobile phone soon after entering the dressing rooms.

For one, the Tigers’ team-of-the-century star knows enough to hand out advice after 143 matches between 1966 and 1975 before giving up the game for a career in law.

Rather than words of praise, the teen was shocked to just hear of tragic news from his dad.

While Green amassed touch after touch on the ground, his close cousin, Patrick, lost his life living in the US from a road accident after his car reportedly rolled on a sharp turn.

“I didn’t believe it at the start – it didn’t feel real,” Green said after the death.

“They’re overseas and I didn’t see them all the time, so it just didn’t feel real.

“We’re a really close family, and we got along really well and were really good mates, so it was just devastating.”

The elder cousin could have been a fierce rival after once being a part of Sydney’s academy program like Green had with the crosstown Giants.

Later that night on the return to Melbourne for the remaining championships clash, Green’s stunned grandfather picked him up as the pair consoled each other.

Allies’ officials later gave the Canberran the opportunity to take the rest of the week off.

But after the initial stage of grieving, it only took Green a moment to realise how best to pay tribute to the lost family member.

“My cousin really enjoyed living life – he lived it to the fullest,’ Green said.

“He experienced everything – he really enjoyed himself.

“And after speaking to my grandfather, I thought the best way I could continue my life and the best way I could commemorate him and do what he would’ve done was to play out the game.”