From performing for crowds to cleaning toilets: this is Toby Brown

"This year's been really good," the Tamworth teen said. "It's opened me up to new opportunities. And yeah, it's all coming good now."

Brown, 18, was speaking after making his AFL debut when he came off the bench for the Swans in a 76-point win over Gunnedah at No. 1 Oval.

The profound experience occurred as he prepares to segue into the second year of his cabinetmaking apprenticeship. He cut short year 12 at Tamworth High to join SMW Kitchens.

"The lifestyle I wanted, I needed money," he said. "So I decided to drop out and get a trade."

"It all happened pretty quick," he continued. "I was doing work experience and got offered the job and took it."

He worked with a "good bunch of boys", Brown said.

"No, it's been great," he said, despite having to clean the toilets on the Friday of his first week on the job. "But I'm passed that now."

Brown's father, Glenn Lloyd, his sister, Georgia Martin, and his grandparents, Julie and Gordon Brown, were sideline for his AFL debut.

The youngster said friends and family - including his mother, Sharon Brown - were his greatest asset: "Keep them real close, and just try and do good by them."

"They've always been there for me and looking out for me every step," he said of his clan. "Even when I do something wrong, they're leading me in the right direction."

Asked to describe himself in three words, Brown quickly settled on positive and funny. He then paused, before adding: "Charismatic. I'll put charismatic."

In a world buffeted by the winds of uncertainty, the former Pirate and Dungowan Cowboy cuts an assured figure.

"So here to have a crack and put on a good show," he said of the Swans, adding that his first taste of AFL "was great".

"Good pressure, a bit of nerves. But once you had a few tackles, it all came to mind pretty easy."