Matera can lay claim to being one of the true foundation Gold Coast players when he was taken as a nominated 17-year-old from WAFL club South Fremantle in 2009.
He spent 2010 playing for Gold Coast in the VFL, which he says was a solid foundation for him playing the first four matches of this season.
"Playing a year in the VFL, when I probably wouldn't have got many games in the WAFL definitely helped. It was a good team and I put a bit of weight on. Moving over was probably the best thing I'd done," Matera told afl.com.au.
The early grounding has held him in good stead as Matera has earned himself the honour of becoming Gold Coast's first ever NAB AFL Rising Star nominee for his four-goal effort in Saturday's historic win over Port Adelaide.
Being the first Suns nominee is no mean feat at a club packed with the best young teenage footballers in the country.
Not surprisingly, Matera says he expects up to half a dozen teammates to join him as Rising Star nominees before the season is out.
"Hopefully we get a few this year. We've got a few good young blokes, so hopefully we get five or six out of the team by the end of the year," Matera said.
"Blokes like Dave Swallow and Trent McKenzie should be up there. Zac Smith, Luke Russell and Josh Toy should be up there too,"
Matera has adapted well to the Gold Coast life, sharing a house with McKenzie and fellow former West Australian Swallow in Ashmore, just five minutes from the club's base in Carrara.
He says there has been a good feeling at the Suns all season despite some heavy early losses and that the entire group had faith that the first win wasn't far away.
"I always thought we had a chance before the game [against Port Adelaide] and so did most of the team. We thought if we stayed with them and played four quarters, we'd have a crack," he said.
"At half time we were only a bit behind them and we hadn't been that close in any of our matches and we thought we could win it."
Matera speaks highly not only of his fellow first-year players but also the Suns' senior players, namely captain Gary Ablett who he said had received unfounded criticism for his leadership of the team.
"Gazza's a great leader. He's probably the best leader I've been around. With all the senior boys in there, they get into you and you learn a bit off them," he said.
"It's been good having them down there. They bring a lot of experience and advice."
