The rollercoaster of emotions during the AFL draft can be difficult for even the most assured hopefuls waiting anxiously to find out whether their dream will become reality.

And for Zane Trew it was tougher than most after the highly-talented Swan Districts product went to bed for a restless sleep on Wednesday night while dealing with the disappointment of missing out in the national draft.

After being touted among the top West Australian products during 2020, many were stunned when Trew’s name wasn’t called out during a marathon broadcast.

But the 18-year-old was grateful he didn’t have to wait long on Thursday to find out his football future, with West Coast swooping on the big-bodied midfielder with pick 12 in the rookie draft.

“I was refreshing the (AFL) app every five seconds, so I was waiting for my name to get hopefully up there,” Trew said from Mineral Resources Park just hours after being selected.

“I’m seriously so excited to get stuck in with such a great club. I couldn’t be happier.

“It was definitely something different (sleeping on his draft fate). I was pretty excited last night to hopefully get my name called out.

“But I’m lucky enough to be here at West Coast today and I’m very grateful for the opportunity they’ve given me.”

In fact, Trew is so enthusiastic that he can’t wait to join his new teammates on the track on Friday, pending a negative COVID-19 test.

It won’t be the first time he has trained at the elite facility at West Coast’s headquarters, with Trew spending a week in the Eagles’ nest earlier this year as part of the AFL Academy.

“I believe that I can come in and try and make an impact. I’m going to come in and train really hard, and obviously get to know my teammates and try to make a good impression,” he said.

“Going (in the) rookie (draft) it doesn’t mean much (different) to me. I’ve still got the opportunity so I’m still going to give it a red-hot crack.”

Trew follows fellow Luke Edwards and Isiah Winder as a 2020 draftee for West Coast, while premiership forward Daniel Venables also re-joined the list as a rookie on Thursday.

He has already spoken to Eagles skipper Luke Shuey and gun ruckman Nic Naitanui, and is eager to soak up as much as he can from his colleagues in a star-studded engine room.

“They just said ‘good to have you on board, mate’ and ‘you’ll enjoy it here, it’s such a great club’,” Trew said.

“Tim Kelly, Shuey, they’re all going to be unreal to be working with and I think I’ll learn quite a lot off them to be honest.”