Defender Tom Gillies has swapped his Dandenong Stingrays’ jumper for that of AFL club Geelong after being selected in Saturday’s national draft.
By Marc McGowan
HALLAM teenager Tom Gillies has made a habit of exceeding expectations this season.
And the no-frills Dandenong Stingrays full-back did so again when he was the local TAC Cup side’s number-one pick at Saturday’s AFL National Draft.
Geelong recruiting manager Stephen Wells called out the 18-year-old’s name at selection 33 – three picks ahead of more-fancied team-mate Ashley Smith.
Seventeen-year-old Stingrays’ midfielder Shane Savage also joined the pair in AFL ranks.
AFL selection capped a magnificent individual season for Gillies, who won Dandenong’s best-and-fairest award and made the TAC Cup team of the year in 2008.
The Stingrays also made the TAC Cup grand final – Gillies’ fourth in as many seasons.
“It hasn’t really sunk in yet – it’s a bit surreal,” he said.
“There was a lot of hype about Ash Smith and I didn’t expect to go that high – it was a bit of a shock.”
The only blemish on Gillies’ copybook was that he didn’t play for Victoria Metro at the national under-18 championships.
But the snub clearly didn’t harm his standing in recruiters’ eyes and, if anything, made him more determined to achieve his AFL dream.
Wells is hoping Gillies can be a bookend for the Cats for the next decade.
“Tom’s shown the ability to play on the taller blokes and the guys who are a bit more medium-sized,” Wells said.
“He’s a very safe mark and spoiler of the ball and he’s very creative with the ball in his hands.
“We think Tom’s got the physical capabilities and also that mental side of him that’s tough enough to play as a deep defender.”
Gillies joins former Dandenong team-mate Scott Simpson and former classmate Dan McKenna – they attended St Michael’s School in Traralgon – at Kardinia Park.
The 192cm defender experienced a role reversal in just his third day at Geelong on Tuesday, joining his fellow Cats’ players in watching video footage of him this year.
“It was a bit daunting. I didn’t get to pick out my highlights, so I was wishing they did a good job picking them out,” he said.
“Scarlo (Geelong full-back Matthew Scarlett) came up to me after that and said he was happy to have me on board.”
Gillies moved in with a host family in Geelong suburb Grovedale on Sunday.
“Mum’s pretty happy I’m staying in Victoria and Geelong is really not that far away compared to a few other guys, so my family is all really happy,” he said.
“As I was pulling into Geelong on Sunday it started to sink in that I wouldn’t be coming back and it’s pretty hard knowing I’m not going to be at home any more.
“But I’ll get over that and settle in … and hopefully in a few years I might get a starting spot in the team.”
