When four Italian football giants converge on Perth in August, one of our WA-raised AFL stars will be a hugely-jealous onlooker from the east coast.

Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Palermo will all make their way west to feature in a festival of the world game, with three games to be staged at Optus Stadium in the span of six days.

But Greater Western Sydney’s Stephen Coniglio — a lifelong fanatical follower of Juve, who will play Inter in an edition of the massive Derby d’Italia before coming up against Palermo — will be watching from Canberra, where his Giants will be playing Gold Coast.

Draped in the famous black and white colours of ‘The Old Lady’ as he spoke to The West Australian at Steel Blue Oval, where he emerged as one of the country’s best AFL prospects playing for Swan Districts a decade-and-a-half ago, Coniglio said he remained “pumped for the State”.

“Even the week after, we play West Coast, but it’s in Sydney. It’s just bad timing,” Conglio joked.

‘Juventus, I remember seeing them in Sydney almost 10 years ago, and the supporters that travel from all over the world, let alone Australia, will be there in Perth. That’s exciting for everyone.

“For kids to be able to see players of that calibre and teams of that calibre very close to them will only inspire them. It’s going to be awesome . . . for any kid who already likes the game, they’re going to be in love with it after watching that spectacle at Optus.”

Coniglio was also a hugely-talented junior cricketer but eventually turned all of his attention towards football, being snapped up by GWS in 2011 after kicking four goals for Swans in their famous WAFL grand final win as a 16-year-old a year earlier.

On top of those two sports, he said he had also always held a massive love for soccer, and he may very well have attempted to follow that path if he was raised in a different time.

“Growing up in Perth when I did, soccer wasn’t at the level it is today,” Coniglio said.

Coniglio has brought some soccer flair into the AFL throughout his career, having regularly borrowed former Juventus star Paulo Dybala’s ‘gladiator mask’ celebration after kicking goals for the Giants.

When asked who his favourite current Juve player was, he plumped for Kenan Yildiz, who is set to be part of the Turkiye side which will take on the Socceroos at the World Cup.

“If Australia can get on top of Turkiye and knock them out at the World Cup, he might be a chance to come, instead of going on holiday,” Coniglio said.

“One thing is for sure — the Italian boys will be there.”