It didn’t take long for new Saint Nick Coffield to experience his first ‘pinch-yourself’ moment.

St Kilda’s second selection – pick No. 8 – in last Friday night’s NAB AFL Draft was warming up alongside reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Seb Ross and young midfield star Luke Dunstan on Monday when he realised his dream had become a reality.

“I think it hit me that I’m actually now in the AFL environment when you’re warming up alongside players like Seb Ross and Luke Dunstan who were just running around like it’s any other day and I was like, ‘Wow, this is it’,” Coffield told reporters on Tuesday.

“It was a little bit confronting, but it was awesome at the same time. It was pretty surreal.”

Coffield captained the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup this season and earned All-Australian selection at half-back following a standout national carnival for Vic Metro.

The 18-year-old has his eyes set on playing senior football in 2018 and wants to use his first summer at Linen House Centre to prove he is capable of stepping up to the level.

“I don’t want to come in and be another number; I want to prove my position to the rest of the players and try and prove like I’m not out of my depth," Coffield said.

“I’d like to think that I can contribute pretty early and get a few games in my first year, but we’ll have to see how it plays out.”

With day one out of the way, Coffield said the most difficult thing about walking into an AFL club for the first time was becoming comfortable in your new home.

“(The biggest challenge is) just trying to make yourself at home because it’s such a new environment and everyone has been in there for years now," he said.

“So just trying to be comfortable in an environment that is completely new to you, which is hard but I’m sure it will come in time.”