But the 18-year-old, who made his division one debut at just 16, is ready to seize an opportunity to cement his status as a top-order batsman at West Warrnambool.

More power was an important addition to his game. Maturity too. Knowledge that can only come with experience.

Panthers coach Alastair Templeton believes the apprentice plumber is ready to take the next step and hopes Nyikos can become a regular fixture for the club.

"He's progressed really well. About a year or so ago he identified a couple of things he needed to add to his game, he did that himself, and there were a few things he wanted to learn," Templeton said.

"He's a really hard worker, Joe. The work he puts in and continues to put in and the amount of time he puts into thinking about what he wants to do to get better will help him in the long run.

"He'll slowly be able to chip away at little parts of your game. When you're young, it's a good trait to have. It's easy at that age to think you've got all the problems solved but they keep coming along."

Templeton said Nyikos had learned "how to make good scores" as a key batsman in West Warrnambool's division two side.

"He hasn't been put in the division one side and been forced to do a role that is pretty tough. Batting that lower middle-order in limited overs cricket can be pretty tough," he said.

"Confidence-wise, it's tough. probably six times out of 10 you're going to get out doing the team thing. You can look back and think 'I haven't got a score there, or I haven't been able to contribute as much as I'd like'.

"It's purely the game position that's caused that. When Joe came into the side, we wanted him to bat in the top-order because then he can play the role he's good at. Not come in and be forced to do a role he hasn't done because he hasn't broken into that top three or four.

"That's where he's been good. He made a lot of runs batting in the top two or three in the twos for three years and had his taste in the ones. Now he's coming up, he's developed into a top-order batsman."

Nyikos said he was happy to perform his role for the team and acknowledged it could change from week-to-week depending on the game situation.

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"I've been able to learn a lot about batting tempo from Al and even Benny (Threlfall)," he said.

"The aim is really just to do my role and make runs. I just want to do my job, whether that's to get the other bloke on strike or to make runs.

"A little bit of personal success along the way would be nice too (if it helps the team)."

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