Grand Final Heartbreak For Draft Hopeful

Among the thousands of devastated Dockers fans on Grand Final day at the MCG was a 203 centimetre teenage giant from WA.

Benji van Rooyen was at the premiership decider with fellow Telstra AFL Draft hopeful Heath Mellody.

Both have been long time Fremantle fans.

“I was nervous throughout the whole game,” van Rooyen said.

“When Pat Voss kicked that goal, I was jumping up and screaming, but by the final siren I was in tears.”

van Rooyen is feeling a different type of anxiety heading into next month’s Draft.

“It is pretty exciting but also nerve wracking,” he said.

“You don’t know what the result is going to be, so I try not to think about it too much.”

Apart from enjoying a strong Under 18 Championship for WA where he was named an All-Australian ruckman, van Rooyen also played Colts and League for Claremont in the WAFL this year.

“I found Colts a lot less physical than the League,” van Rooyen said.

“Playing against mature men is also a lot quicker so you just have to adapt your playing style.”

At the recent AFL Draft Combine, van Rooyen had mixed results.

The teenager impressed with a time of 3.08 seconds for the 20 metre sprint, but his 2km time trial of 7:29 was the slowest of the players to test at the national combine.

That time though was still a personal best, and recruiters are well aware18 of the many injuries he sustained in his teenage years, mainly back and shin related stress concerns.

“From the age of 13,14 and even as a 15-year-old I didn’t play any footy,” he said.

“So, I learned a fair bit from that time.”

He’s also been a sponge when it comes to absorbing information from his brother Jacob who is a key forward at Melbourne, while his other brother Sam is building his career with Claremont.

“Jacob just tells me to try to enjoy it as much as I can,” van Rooyen explains.

“You only have one Draft year so have as much fun on the journey as I can and stay as relaxed as possible.”

But with 14 clubs having made home visits in the build up to the Draft, including local clubs Fremantle and West Coast, it’s hard not to look ahead to what might be.

“The main thing is they’re trying to get to know you and I’m asking them what I can do to improve my game,” he said.