From the moment James Aish was drafted to the Club late last year, the Brisbane Lions have made no secret of their desire to re-sign the South Australian football prodigy to a longer term deal.

Quite simply, the Lions see him as being a key ingredient to the team’s future success.

But Aish, who doesn’t come out of contract until then end of 2015, has been in no hurry to discuss contracts – he wanted to simply focus on playing football and getting through his first AFL season.

The 18-year-old seems to have settled in well to his new Brisbane lifestyle, and is now ready to start looking ahead.

“I just wanted to focus on playing good footy and my transition into the AFL so that’s where we left it with the club,” Aish told The Courier-Mail.

“The off-season is here now so we can sit down and have a talk to get the ball rolling.”

It will be music to the ears of Lions fans, most of who are still scarred by the events of the 2013 Trade Period.

Aish certainly lived up to the hype in 2014, playing in all but one of the Club’s senior games (he was rested in Round 14), and collecting 370 disposals (at an average of 17.6 per game) – the sixth most at the Club.

He also ranked fourth at the Lions in marks (94), fifth in tackles (77), seventh in clearances (43), and seventh in inside 50s (48).

There’s little wonder why he’s among the favourites to win the AFL Rising Star, and should poll well in the Merrett-Murray Medal this Friday.

But Aish himself remained modest when reflecting on his first season at the elite level.

“I had a few games I was happy with and a few games that were pretty average but overall I was happy to play as many games as I did in my first year,” Aish said.

“I put a bit of pressure on myself to perform. I wanted to set pretty high standards.

“I learned a lot from the year but there’s still lots to work on and improve going forward.”

As for the AFL Rising Star award, Aish has tipped teammate Lewy Taylor to take out the honour.

“Lewy has played every game and he played a really exciting brand of football so he certainly stands out,” he said.