Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield completed a clean sweep of the individual honours in the AFL last season, winning the Brownlow Medal, the AFL Players Association and AFL Coaches Association most valuable player awards as well as all major media gongs, including those of The Age and Herald Sun.
So West Coast fans will be excited to learn that Venables, who was the club's first pick in the 2016 national draft, has drawn comparisons to the champion Cats midfielder as well Eagles reigning club champion Luke Shuey.
But they will also be wondering why a player who has drawn comparison to Dangerfield wasn't picked in the top 10. And why most draft experts were predicting Venables to go later in the first round or even in the second round of the draft.
In fact, despite going just three picks outside the Top 10, Venables wasn't even in Sydney for the draft like the majority of the first-round selections, and he told Radio 6PR he was "shocked" to be chosen so early.
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"I was shocked myself to be honest, but I'm so happy and grateful for the opportunity the West Coast Eagles have given me," Venables said.
"I honestly wasn't sure coming into the night where I was going ... I'm just stoked the Eagles have picked me up."
It's easy to see why he's been likened to Dangerfield when you watch his under-18s national championships highlights package, with Venables' speed and attack on the contest a prominent feature of his game as well as his ability to spring back to his feet if he goes to ground.
Venables himself however, prefers to compare himself to one of his new teammates.
"I'm like Luke Shuey, I'm very explosive out of a pack," he told the AFL website earlier this month.
"I also don't mind giving a fend-off like Dustin Martin. Me and my mates had a competition at school footy about who could do the most fend-offs and it just stuck."
"I'm pretty competitive, explosive, skillful and a goalkicker."
Venables has good football pedigree with his grandfather Fred Robinson playing for North Melbourne as well as his great-grandfather Johnny Lewis, who played more than 200 games and was one of the first players to be inducted into the AFL's Hall of Fame.
"It would be amazing to fulfil a family tradition to play AFL football but I also want to make my own history," he said.
Venables put himself in the frame as a first round pick with an outstanding 2016 under-18s national championships where he played all four games for Vic Metro including a key role in their nail-biting two-point win against Vic Country.
With his side trailing, Venables barged through a pack and dished off a handball to set up Metro's second last goal before he marked and converted a set shot with less than two minutes to put them in front.
"I always wanted to kick a vital goal like that," he said.
"A lot of the boys got around me and said just relax. I was pretty relaxed and just went back and kicked it."
Venables, who said he's been wanting to be an AFL footballer all his life, said having to kick under pressure didn't phase him.
"It shows that I'm good under pressure and when the game is in the balance I'll always be there. I love stepping up and it's a big part of my game," he said.
He was rewarded with an under-18 All-Australian selection on a half-forward flank - especially pleasing given he suffered a serious injury in 2015.
"If you told me last year when I broke my leg I'd be an All-Australian this season, I would have thought you were joking," Venables told FOX Footy earlier in November.
Venables fends off an opponent in the national championships.
Venables' injury-plagued past is the most likely reason for his slide outside the top 10, with his problems starting with the fractured fibula he suffered in the opening match of the 2015 under-16s national championships.
Venables flew for an intercept mark, which he hauled in easily.
What wasn't so easy was his awkward landing.
"It sounded like a tree snapping in half," he told FOX Footy.
After suffering such a serious injury, Venables could have been forgiven for feeling downhearted, however he fought past the frustration and slowly worked through his seven-month rehab in order to get back to playing footy in 2016.
And 2016 offered no respite for the youngster, as he headed back to the treatment room when he suffered a knee injury while playing for the Western Jets in the opening round of the TAC Cup season.
He was able to soldier on despite the injury and Venables showed his toughness by kicking three goals on one leg in the final quarter of the match to help the Jets beat the Oakleigh Chargers.
Venables was then able to get back to full fitness by the national championships where he caught the eye of recruiters but a mysterious foot injury brought his 2016 season to a premature end.
"I don't even know what happened with my foot, I was just warming up and then I couldn't walk. It was annoying and hard to explain because it was all uncontrollable."
The injury restricted him to just three TAC Cup games in 2016 but West Coast had already seen enough positive glimpses to select him with pick 13 in the draft.
Venables is looking forward to the move west. Photo: West Coast Eagles
It appears likely that Venables, like Dangerfield, will start his career as an explosive forward before transitioning into the midfield.
He told the Eagles website he was eager to hit the training track with his new teammates, particularly midfielders Matt Priddis, Sam Mitchell, Andrew Gaff and Luke Shuey.
"I'm absolutely stoked to be teammates with players of their calibre," Venables said.
"I get to learn so much and just absorb all their knowledge…just by training and being around them.
"I think if I'm half the player that Luke is then I'll be pretty happy with that. He's a gun. If I can learn a few things off him and take in everything he says then that would be amazing."