Rising Dee on 'chat back' from 'Trac', what's scaring his teammates and stopping the game's best

THE FIRST player to be conquered by Koltyn this year was Caleb Serong.

In just round two, Melbourne youngster Koltyn Tholstrup was tasked with the job of shutting down one of Fremantle's most influential players in Serong. He kept him to just 12 disposals in 74 minutes, an achievement few taggers had been capable of across recent seasons.

Despite the Dees still suffering a defeat on the day, it represented a breakthrough moment for Tholstrup, who had been rotated through multiple positions, sustained multiple injuries and endured multiple frustrations in his first two years on Melbourne's list.

But there was no time to be satisfied. Jack Viney, recovering from an Achilles injury that would ultimately hamper his entire campaign, travelled with Melbourne's squad to Western Australia for that clash against Fremantle and noticed the influence Tholstrup had on the contest.

So, he sat down his young teammate for a chat on how to follow up on the promising signs. It would prove an early demonstration of the type of environment the club's senior players, and its new coach Steven King, have helped foster, and has been reflected through the young side's continued evolution this year.

"I remember sitting down in Perth with 'Vines' after our round two loss and I didn't have a bad game on Caleb Serong," Tholstrup told AFL.com.au this week.

"Jack just sat me down and said now you've got to keep stacking these games up, we call that consistency. I've held that throughout the year. It's helped me reset each week and just keep trying to stack them up.

"Jack's been great. He's had a lot of challenges himself with the body. But he's been awesome. He's a good friend of mine. I stayed with him for my first month when I first moved over. He's someone I ask a lot of questions of he never gets sick of me. He's been there for me the whole way."

As it proved, Serong wouldn't be the last player to be conquered by Koltyn. Instead, Tholstrup's impressive list of scalps has only grown across the course of Melbourne's remarkable season. For the 21-year-old, personally, it's been a campaign that's catapulted from strength to strength.

Across his last seven games on a direct opponent, despite being tasked with covering some of the game's most dangerous forwards, Tholstrup's conceded just one goal to his primary match-up. The likes of Christian Petracca, Murphy Reid, Dylan Moore, Lachie Schultz and Shaun Mannagh have all been kept goalless in that stretch.

"It's something I look forward to," Tholstrup said. "I love doing it, I love playing a small part for the team. I've learned a lot. I've definitely come a long way over the year. I've had some good roles that have taught me a lot of things.

"I'll get told during the week who I'm on and I'll do my study and my research. It's not getting too caught up in what they're doing, it's knowing their strengths and weaknesses. But a lot of it is how I can help the team and still get dangerous and get involved in everything. I've been loving it.

"I don't do too much study. I'll sit down with the coach, have a look and I do a bit myself as well. But I don't want to overthink it. 'Kingy' is massive on just playing the game and that's what I do. I'll do little niche things, but I won't get too caught up in what they're doing. I still need to play my role for the team, so I just go out and play as I play.

"My first two years, I had a little bit of injury and things like that. I was playing in a position that I wasn't the best at and I wasn't as happy with. 'Kingy' has come in and for myself and a lot of others, the way we play now suits our game and suits a lot of the boys' games."

Tholstrup's performance on Reid, keeping the reigning Telstra AFL Rising Star winner to just 11 disposals and no goals in 47 minutes last Saturday, helped Melbourne mastermind a thrilling win over the ladder-leading Fremantle. But it still couldn't shade his efforts from only a week earlier.

Playing against his good mate, and former teammate in Petracca, Tholstrup shut down Melbourne's 2021 Norm Smith Medal winner – and new Gold Coast star – by limiting him to just 10 disposals and no goals in 87 minutes.

Given the context of the match, Petracca's first against his former side, it was a job requiring significant maturity from Tholstrup. But he passed with flying colours, putting his name on the map as one of the League's best young defensive stoppers.

"To be honest, we didn't really speak too much about him during the week. It wasn't really much of a talking point," Tholstrup said.

"I love 'Trac'. I had a good two years with him and learned a lot from him. We have a very similar way of thinking as players and 'Goody' [former Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin] would always sit us down together, so I knew how he played.

"He was great to play on, he was good fun. He gave a lot of good chat back, which was nice. It's all love there, for sure. He was good fun and he's been doing well, so I'm very happy for him."

The way Tholstrup calls it 'chat back' would suggest it was him starting the banter, rather than Petracca. So, did the youngster give his former teammate – who is almost 10 seasons his senior – any lip?

"Oh, plenty," Tholstrup laughed.

"But I know 'Trac' and I know the relationship we have. He gave it all back as well, which made it even better to be honest. He got me good a few times, which was quite funny. He was probably my funniest match-up of the year, I'd say."

THOLSTRUP'S RECENT SCALPS

Melbourne invested plenty of time in Tholstrup through his first two seasons, trying to find the young West Australian's best position after claiming him with the No.13 selection in the 2023 draft. Goodwin rotated him at half-forward, on the wing, as well as giving him some tagging jobs in the midfield.

But it's across half-back, shutting down some of the competition's best forward-half players, where he's shone this year. He's also doing more damage himself. In addition to limiting the output of his match-up, Tholstrup's now also had four straight games where he's found the footy 20-plus times himself.

"It's about finding that balance," Tholstrup said.

"It's something I've been trying to learn as I go throughout the year. I always sit down with [assistants] Jared Rivers and Nathan Jones and just keep trying to learn little bits here and there. My game's never perfect and we're never satisfied.

"If we can just keep adding little strings to the bow and keep getting dangerous … early on, my sole focus was my man. Now it's about playing with a bit more freedom. The backline group we have, there's so much trust there. If I have to hand over to do something, I have so much trust it'll get done."

Tholstrup's game is now starting to match his personality. Easily one of the most loved Melbourne players on its list – thanks to his laidback, jovial nature – Tholstrup the footballer is more and more reflecting the sunglass-wearing jokester he is off the field.

In fact, those oversized sunglasses are now part of Tholstrup's brand, so much so his manager Andrew McDougall from Corporate Sports Australia has recently organised a partnership deal with Oakley.

"I've got a little thing going on with them," Tholstrup laughed. "I get a couple of pairs here and there. They've looked after me quite well. The big gold ones hide my broken schnoz quite well."

But, while plenty of opposition stars have been conquered by Koltyn this season, there remains one challenge he's found difficult to execute. That's bringing some of his teammates on the two-day trip back to his farm in his hometown of Esperance, seven hours' drive from Perth.

"Haven't got any of them back yet," Tholstrup joked.

"Some of them keep telling me they'll swing by, but then they hear about the sharks and get a little bit scared. I wouldn't mind bringing some back to the farm. One day I'll get them there to dip the toes in the water."