On Wednesday, however, Talia literally took centre stage. With a nervous smile and a humble speech, Talia became the first Crow to win the NAB AFL Rising Star award.
It was deserved, of course. Talia has cemented his place in Adelaide's back line and played a huge role in his side's push up the ladder. This weekend, he'll probably line up on Sydney Swans star forward Sam Reid in a qualifying final.
For Talia, the fanfare is still a little unfamiliar.
"It's pretty unbelievable, the names that I'm now linked alongside," Talia said after the event. "But I'm only early into my career and I'm that far off those guys that it's not funny."
Talia's triumph again underlined the Rising Star as an award for all, celebrated by all involved with each nominee's progression.
This is most clear between meals and presentations at the ceremony, when stories are swapped and shared. Here, we find the Rising Star is more mum and dad than glitz and glamour.
Young Western Bulldogs midfielder Mitch Wallis is joined on stage by parents Sue and Stephen, who played 261 games for the Bulldogs. Stephen's assessment of Mitch's skills? "Fair or OK," he says.
Sam Blease's mum tells the crowd of her son's fears he might never play footy again after breaking his leg at school in 2009. She said she had hoped at the time that the injury might force the Melbourne half-forward to concentrate more on finishing his year 12. "But that didn't happen," she said.
Tommy Bugg, promising GWS defender, asked organisers if he could bring his best friend, Will Edwards, and former schoolboy coach Barry Rowlings to the event as his guests. They both sat on his table, on either side of parents Jim and Kerry.
And a moving tribute featuring young Tiger Brandon Ellis and his father Dale also emphasises this is an award that credits the people around the players, as well as the players themselves.
Behind Talia in second place for the Ron Evans Medal was Jeremy Cameron, laid-back Giant forward. So relaxed, in fact, that Cameron was the last nominee to arrive at Crown's Palladium room.
Running late didn't seem to fluster him too much, and why would it? This year Cameron faced much bigger tasks, quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting prospects in the competition in the space of 16 games.
He's also made the full transition from Dartmoor, a small town in the southwest corner of Victoria, to Sydney, Australia's biggest city. Of his home, Cameron said he couldn't have hoped for anything different.
"It's a really quiet place," Cameron said. "It was a good spot to grow up."
Cameron was one of eight Giants to be nominated, a sea of orange ties obvious when the nominees stood at the front of the room to open proceedings. The second shortest of the Giants' bunch, Toby Greene, might have had the biggest impact.
But Greene was ineligible for the award, thanks to a one-game suspension in round eight for a late bump on Brisbane Lion Jed Adcock. For some, including keynote speaker Nick Riewoldt, it was a shame the 18-year-old couldn't be given the award after averaging 28 disposals a game this season.
But for Greene, a softly spoken teenager but fiercely combative player, it didn't mean too much. In fact, he didn't even know that being suspended or having a reprimand ruled him out of contention for the Ron Evans Medal.
"It was a stupid thing to do, but it's all right. It doesn't really worry me too much," Greene said.
"What's happened has happened and I've learned my lesson, but at least I know now. I didn't even know the rules coming in."?
Just as Greene's day wasn't full of regret, Talia's joy was slightly tempered. He has a finals series with the Crows to concentrate on and is already moving on to his next challenge.
"I'll be putting the year that I've had behind me and really focusing on the next four weeks. I suppose that's crunch time and when you really need to perform," he said.
?Callum Twomey is a reporter for the AFL website. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_CalTwomey.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
