Because not so long ago he was just another player with big dreams. In recent months his stock has continued to rise to the point where he is widely regarded as a near-certain top five pick.

Giants academy coach Jason Saddington says "we all know" Green is going to be drafted on Wednesday night - it's just a matter of when for the 18-year-old prospect.

GWS traded up to pick four to avoid a rival club bidding for the highly-rated young gun as he firms to become the first top 10 pick straight out of Canberra.

Phil Davis was the last Canberra product to go so far up the board but the Giants co-captain had spent four years in Adelaide before being drafted with pick 10 in 2008.

Green comes from good pedigree - his grandfather Michael Green was a four-time premiership player at Richmond - and looms as the perfect fit for an AFL system.

"In his 16^th year, he made the academy and he played in the state teams, but by no means was he a standout player at that point," Saddington said.

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"He was a good player. He showed those attributes and signs but he still hadn't found that consistency and the ability to influence a game of footy just yet.

"Having said that, one thing we really did learn about Tom was he is super competitive and highly motivated. From the end of his 16^th year and the following pre-season, his character allowed him to work really hard, this was all himself.

"He pushed himself super hard through all the academy training which started to elevate his game a little bit more above others just through sheer work rate.

"He had the extra time, care and want to get better. That's something you just can't teach, and he just naturally had that drive.

"What Tom has done is he has been able to carry that from his 17^th year when he was playing at the national championships and playing quite well, right through into his 18^th year when he has been able to dominate games.

"It holds him in really good stead, you need to have that hard-working and self-driven work ethic. He will be just fine in an AFL environment.

"He is really going to enjoy being in one of those systems as well."

Green looms as Canberra's biggest draft hopeful while a pair of Demons players headline a list of mature age prospects plying their trade in the NEAFL.

The league's Rising Star award winner Angus Baker joins gun midfielder Mitch Maguire in the mix as they eye a shot in the big time.

Baker has been on the Sydney Swans' radar after an anterior cruciate ligament tear cruelled his draft hopes as a teenager, with he and Maguire training with the club last pre-season.