Fist pumps, goose bumps, shivers running through bodies. Tears.
For three West Coast Eagles youngsters who today get the opportunity to realise a life-long ambition the last few days have been euphoric.
The dream may not initially have been to wear the blue and gold of the Eagles in an AFL debut, but since joining the club that could facilitate the transition from fantasy to reality, everything has been about this moment. This team.
For Campbell Chesser, Reuben Ginbey and Noah Long playing against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium is a life highlight. Similarly, it has been that way for their loved ones.
Phone calls home after a Tuesday team meeting where it was revealed they would be playing were emotional. All of those players are dislocated from their families. Even WA born and bred Ginbey, whose parents reside in picturesque Dunsborough, had to Face Time the news to his folks.
Ginbey was the club’s first selection last November while Long, from Echuca, was the second last name read out on draft night. Proof there that a number is just number and once drafted an individual’s fate is in their own hands.
To some extent.
Chesser, who drove about 3500km to get here for pre-season 18 months ago, undertaking two periods of quarantine during the pandemic, was removed from the driving seat of his career just moments into a practice match against Fremantle last year.
He took a routine mark on the wing, received a little shove in the back in the act of taking the ball and it was enough to cause an off-balance landing.
He stayed down, was assisted from the ground. He did not play a single minute more in 2022. Spent much in a moon boot. The rest in rehab.
Even when the 2023 pre-season started the young man was on a modified program. He made slow, but important gains in the post-Christmas phase. And in the last few weeks, after being introduced cautiously and gradually to match simulation, an early season debut looked possible. Not probable, but possible.
And here we are. Saturday, March 17 and he is preparing for his first AFL match. Tell me there is a better story of resilience.
Ginbey was a player the recruiting staff hoped would be available with the club’s first selection at pick No.8 in last year’s draft – slipping to #9 after Brisbane secured Will Ashcroft with a father-son selection.
They nervously ticked off each selection ahead of them. Media speculation in the lead-up to draft night linked the South-West youngster to the Eagles. That was not helpful, raising anxiety levels during scenario planning around the player lottery.
When he got through to #9 the grins in the selection room were ubiquitous. A punt to split pick #2 for #8 and #12 (which eventually became 13 and was used to land Elijah Hewett) paid off. The Eagles ended up with two key draft targets with their first two selections.
Ginbey took no time to demonstrate why he was rated so highly making an immediate impression with his work ethic, commitment and football aptitude.
Draft night could hardly have been better for the Eagles with Hewett, South Australian ruckman Harry Barnett and utility player Coby Burgiel joining an exciting young crop. And then came the cream on top.
Bendigo small forward Noah Long, expected by recruiting staff to disappear off the board and find an alternate destination, was still there at #58. When his name was called it was a ‘pinch me’ moment; not just for Long but for the talent scouts too.
Now look at him. All those close to him will be bursting with pride today.
Parents, siblings and loved ones will have lumps in their throats as this trio charge onto Marvel Stadium to face the Roos; they will try to choke the little stream wanting to escape down their cheeks, to feign calm and composure.
To defy knotted tummies doing somersaults; they will deploy diversionary tactics, chat to someone nearby, reach for a beer, turn away, check their phones.
We know this because for those in the inner sanctum of the footy club it’s the same. These teenagers have been at the club for a relatively short time, but the emotional and personal connection is palpable. They’re part of the West Coast family and we are all proud of them.
Go boys. Enjoy.
