NIC NAITANUI is aware of the hype his first three goals in the AFL created, but embarrassed by the praise.

The 19-year-old puts his stunning 15-minute cameo against Hawthorn down to luck.

West Coast's prize recruit danced, pounced and sprinted for three superb goals that turned and eventually won the round 13 clash for West Coast.

But with three of his four quarters wielding little impact, the attention doesn't sit well with the Eagles' new cult hero.

"The blokes that kick goals always get noticed the most, but I thought I had a pretty poor game – I think I'd only had one or two touches beforehand," Naitanui told westcoasteagles.com.au. 

"Our ruck coach (Dean Irving) came up to me at three-quarter time and told me, 'you've got to do something to redeem yourself,' so that sort of motivated me.

"But I think it came down to luck at the end of the day."

The fans' reaction to their No.2 draft pick's game, and his contract extension announced just two days later, prolonged Naitanui's stay on the back page.

After a junior career that was also watched incredibly closely, the Fijian-born teenager said he had no hesitation avoiding the newspapers, despite a year spent studying journalism at university.  

"I didn't mind reading the paper, but since the draft I've steered clear of it – I'll read it every now and then, but maybe something different, like The Australian – not the footy," he said.

"Then at home my family keeps me down to earth – you've still got to wash the dishes and you've still got to take the rubbish out."

Naitanui says teammate Matt Priddis has had the most influence on him since he arrived at West Coast, with advice on what to eat, when to eat and how to keep the nerves at bay coming in handy before his recent round 12 debut.

The Richmond match at Docklands was Naitanui's first road trip with the side, but he said any nerves were quickly out the window when he got his first assignment coming off the bench.

"I remember Daniel Jackson was getting into [Daniel] Kerr a bit and playing a tagging role and the word when I came off the bench was to go and hit that tagger," he explained.

"They said, 'if you want to be a part of the team you've got to do the one-percenters as well', so I think the first thing I did was run out there and give Jackson a little bump.

"After that they said, 'just keep doing the hard stuff'. Josh Kennedy laid a few good hits and I just thought, 'yeah, it's real now.'"

Senior ruckman Dean Cox has also had an influence on Naitanui since draft day, with the four-time All-Australian working through his games tapes and giving feedback on the track. 

"I usually link up with Seabs (Mark Seaby) when we're training and Coxy will have an input as well," he said. 

"He (Cox) didn't train last week, so he just sat in the stand and watched me train all week and he gave me feedback.

"He was always someone I wanted to be like, so coming here was like a dream come true."

Staying at West Coast was also a great relief for Naitanui, the cult hero putting pen to paper and setting himself for a long career at the hometown club he loves. 

"I don't want to go anywhere else so I was just waiting to get it signed," Naitanui said of his extension.

"We've been talking about it for a while, and I definitely didn't want to go interstate."