De Goey, taken at No.5 in the national draft last November, has looked comfortable at senior level in the Magpies' first two NAB Challenge games against Hawthorn and Carlton, and is in line to play again against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

The midfielder, who played a key role in the Oakleigh Chargers' TAC Cup grand final win last year, turned 19 only last Saturday, but has held his own both on the track and in match conditions, winning enough of the ball and also creeping forward to kick a goal in each game.

"I'd like to play in round one, but obviously that's up to 'Bucks' [coach Nathan Buckley]," De Goey said during Collingwood's Bendigo community camp.

"I'm just going to focus on my game at the moment and just try to improve those little areas that I need to work on. It would be an honour to run out in round one, but I'm going to focus on doing the small things right, and if it comes, it comes."

Whenever that moment does arrive, however, De Goey has relished the opportunity to mix it with established AFL stars, on his side and among opposition ranks.

"It's been good just to see where I'm at physically and mentally, just to get those two games out of the way and hopefully have a third run this weekend," he said. The differences between the standard he's been used to and AFL level are already stark.

"It's probably just the speed at which the ball moves up and down the ground," he said. "If there's a turnover, you have to be ready to get back and help in defence and, by the time you do that, you've got to be up forward again, so it's just the speed of the game, which probably took some time to get used to.

"You always think you've got pressure around you, which usually you do, so when you get those little bursts where you've got time and space, it does take a bit of time to get used to."

De Goey has already found himself directly opposed to some of football's finest, last Sunday briefly lining up on Carlton's dual Brownlow medallist Chris Judd during Collingwood's seven-point loss to the Blues, in which Judd starred.

But he's promised not to let himself become overawed either by the occasion or the quality of opposition he faces in his first AFL year.

"It's an unbelievable feeling [standing Judd], but you can't get ahead of yourself," he said. "You've just got to concentrate on your own game and what you want to achieve, because if you get caught up with those big names, I don't think you'll ever make it in the AFL.

"I definitely learnt a lot of things watching him. But he's a rival and we look forward to trying to get the win next time."