St Kilda’s Huge Garcia earned the round 9 Rising Star nomination a week after being subbed out and a target for a Ross Lyon spray

A St Kilda young gun gave the perfect response to a massive and very public spray from his coach by joining an elite crew.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 02: Hugo Garcia of the Saints celebrates a goal during the 2025 AFL Round 08 match between the St Kilda Saints and the Fremantle Dockers at Marvel Stadium on May 2, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

A week after being eviscerated on the bench by his coach and subbed out for poor performance, St Kilda’s Huge Garcia is a rising star.

Garcia, 19, earned the round 9 nomination for the AFL Rising Star award on the back of a 19-possession, 10 tackle haul in the Saints huge Friday night win over Fremantle.

It was a performance in stark contrast to the previous week when the teenager was subbed out before halftime and taken apart by coach Ross Lyon who made his way down to the bench to talk to his young midfielder.

Lyon didn’t back away from the bake he gave Garcia, who has played every game this season, and given the chance to respond he did in style as the Sinats romped to a 61-point win, including kicking a late goal.

“We’ve backed him in, we’ve had a lot of young debutants,” Lyon said after the game.

“Can you have favourites? He’s one of ours.

“He’s just so competitive, culturally trains so hard.”

"If you're sending a message, it's a player like that that you send a message to, not a 16-gamer.”

- Kate McCarthy on Ross Lyon's take on Hugo Garcia

Watch Now: https://t.co/rUgyFSxRdPpic.twitter.com/bwwRvK0krU

— AFL.com.au (@AFLcomau) April 27, 2025

Garcia becomes St Kilda’s second Rising Star nominee in the past two seasons, following on from teammate Darcy Wilson last year.

“Hugo is a relentless competitor with the work ethic to match. It’s been great to watch his growth and progress over his first two-seasons so far,” St Kilda EGM of Football David Misson said.

“As a second-year player, we’ve loved seeing his buy in to what we’re building as a team, and how best he can play his role in that system.”

“We congratulate Hugo on earning the rising star nomination for this week and look forward to seeing him keep building on what’s been a promising start to his career.”

Originally published as St Kilda’s Huge Garcia earned the round 9 Rising Star nomination a week after being subbed out and a target for a Ross Lyon spray