CAM NAIRN started the day nervous, but finished it in seventh heaven.

On the drive into Alberton Oval for South Australia's third game of its national championships campaign against Western Australia, Nairn had a rather uneasy feeling. The pre-match nerves had well and truly settled in his stomach.

South Australia was close to a first national title in seven years and Nairn had played a part in that. But now was his chance to stamp his name as one of the best, most dynamic forwards in the draft crop. A few goals would help him do that.

So, Nairn got to work. He got out the back and ran into an open goal for his first, marked strongly while directly in front for his second, plucked another backing back into a pack to add his third, then led smartly into space for his fourth. All by half-time.

But it got better. He baulked onto his preferred left foot and snapped truly for his fifth soon after the restart, worried an opponent into a holding free kick for his sixth, then took one more grab rushing back to goal for his seventh. The day out was complete.

"It felt like a dream," Nairn told AFL.com.au.

"It was pretty cool, I got on the end of a few. The other South Australian forwards, Aidan Schubert and Mitch Marsh, we all work well together. We all had our days and that was mine.

"I was actually a little bit nervous going into it, but at quarter time I had three. I was feeling pretty good by that point. I found some good spots. No matter the defender, I thought I was going to get the ball."

Nairn had been doing everything right leading into that clash against Western Australia, but the goals weren't coming. The nerves stemmed from there. However, a conversation with South Australia coach Tony Bamford would put him on the right track.

"It was good, because the previous games he'd been doing a lot of really good work but not getting a lot of reward on the scoreboard. He'd been creating a lot of holes for Mitch and Aidan to work into," Bamford told AFL.com.au.

"Sometimes, as a forward, you're going to do all the right running and get to all of the right spots but for whatever reason the ball just won't go through you. He just had to suck it up and let everyone else have a lick of the ice cream, knowing that his time would come.

"That was the conversation we'd had with him leading into that game, then it was just perfect timing. Everything he did that day turned to gold. It was a really good lesson for him. He got a lot of confidence from that."

The seven-goal performance pushed Nairn into first-round calculations at the draft, with some clubs even viewing the 188cm prospect as a potential top-20 pick. But what made it all the more extraordinary was the fact it came in his second favourite role.

Nairn played most of the championships with South Australia – and most of his SANFL under-18 season with Central District – as either a half-forward or as a third tall option in attack. For the most part, it paid dividends.

He kicked 22 goals from 13 games with the Bulldogs – including a run of 16 goals in five weeks at one point – while he also had his day out for South Australia, but he actually prefers being deployed in a more defensive position on the wing.

It's there where he finished the season for Central District, completing his season with performances of 30 disposals and 12 marks against West Adelaide and then 31 disposals and a goal against Glenelg.

"To be honest, I actually prefer playing on the wing," Nairn said.

"I ended the season playing on the wing, even as a defensive winger sometimes. I played a lot of half-forward and also in the champs I played as a third tall. I played a few different positions, but I like getting up the ground. I just like being closer to the ball and showing my running ability a little bit more as well. I get to use that on the wing."

Nairn's running ability is something he had to improve on heading into the year, but he put the work in, with his determination rewarded when he ran the 2km time trial in 6.13 minutes at the draft combine to finish fourth overall among the country's best prospects.

"Cam, in the past, has been a really smart footballer who maybe wasn't fit enough to work hard up the ground, but he's changed that. He's got a lot fitter in the last six to nine months," Bamford said.

"He's always had really high game IQ. We actually thought, at the start of our program, that he might be able to play as an intercept defender as well, because of his ability to read the ball and mark it. But he was playing so well as a forward that it was silly for us to move him. He's ground and air."

If Nairn is trialled down back one day, he has someone to call upon for a few tips. During the season, he was put in touch with Port Adelaide defender Esava Ratugolea – both are managed by the same agency at Phoenix Management Group – for a lesson on what life would be like as an AFL player one day.

"I went out for dinner with him, actually," Nairn said.

"We went with Archie van Dyk and Zane Peucker, plus Esava and a couple of the other boys. It was pretty cool meeting him. It was my first time speaking with an AFL player, so it was pretty surreal.

"He just said don't get too caught up in it. I asked him a few questions about his lifestyle and what it means to be an AFL player. I quizzed him on that a little bit and he gave me a bit of an insight into his life as an AFL player."

For Nairn himself, that type of career isn't too far away. He now looms as a first night prospect at the upcoming national draft, even if the clubs chasing him aren't yet clear. His impending selection to an AFL list is the result of a year's worth of hard work.

"Coming into this year, I had expectations but never to be where I am now," Nairn said.

"I'm pretty proud of myself to get here. My goal was to make the state pre-season, which I did. I was just hoping to play in the state games and play well at Centrals and get my name out there a little bit.

"But when I started talking to a few clubs, it felt like I was heading in the right direction."