Chris Scott says the message to young key defender Sam De Koning as he approaches his first finals series is to ‘be yourself.’

The 21-year-old has had a breakout this season matching up on some of the game’s most dangerous forwards, which was recognised on Wednesday night with a second-place finish in the NAB AFL Rising Star Award.

Speaking to Cameron Ling and Tom Lonergan on To The Final Bell podcast, Scott said he expects him to stick to what has already made him such a key player for the Cats so far this season.

“For the next month, you'd assume, like the rest of us, he's not going to be perfect the whole time but what we're asking from him is at the very least, if he goes down, go down your way, and play your game,” Scott said.

Scott said it’s a consistent message that’s been delivered to De Koning all season: be yourself, back yourself.

“It goes back to the idea that we talked about at the start of the pre-season,” he said.

“We don't want to make you a carbon copy of Tom Lonergan, even though I loved him, you are 204cm key defender and you may have a few deficiencies in your game at 19 or 20, and we'll work on them, but let's maximise what you're really good at.” 

In 20 games this season, De Koning conceded just 25 goals to his direct opponent, ranking fifth in the AFL.