Fiji born West Coast Eagles ruckman Nicholas Naitanui has been rewarded for his standout performance against Essendon with the AFL's Rising Star nomination for round four.

Naitanui played a key role alongside fellow ruckman Dean Cox in the Eagles first win of the season, accumulating 17 hit outs, 13 disposals (10 contested) and five tackles.

He is averaging 16 hit outs and 14 possessions this season.

Naitanui, who is a very exciting developing player and is certainly capturing the imagination of the public, said he’s still learning.