By Michael Whiting
As a youngster, Gold Coast SUNS draftee Henry Schade would run around his Hobart backyard kicking a footy to himself hour after hour, hoping one day he would get a chance in the AFL.
On Thursday night, the well-spoken 18-year-old realised the first part of his dream when the GC SUNS read his name out as the 24th pick in the NAB AFL Draft.
The 196cm North Hobart fullback has never stepped foot on the Gold Coast and admits his lily white skin might a chance of turning red under the Queensland sun, but could not be happier heading north.
The year 12 student - who had his last exam on Friday morning - will join former Guilford Young College schoolmate Jacob Gillbee at the GC SUNS when he begins training on Monday.
"I'm absolutely stoked," Schade said about his drafting.
"Honestly I had no idea where I was gong to go, or if I was going to go at all. I spoke to Gold Coast SUNS twice before the draft, but I still had no idea if they were interested or not.
"You don’t know if they're trying to find out whether you're an idiot or not or whether they're genuinely interested, it was early days and I had no idea so it was a total shock."
Schade said 10 clubs had spoken to him prior to the draft, but he was "ecstatic" to be going to the GC SUNS to learn from the likes of experienced defenders Nathan Bock and Campbell Brown.
Football runs in the family, with his father Steven winning premierships with the Box Hill under-19s and then Glenorchy when he moved to Tasmania in his playing days.
Schade said his father had the biggest influence on his football, having coached him from Auskick right through until the under-15s.
"I've played footy since Auskick when I was about six and ever since then I've loved the game," he said.
"It was my dream goal to play AFL. I remember running around the yard as a kid, kicking the ball to myself about 100,000 times, and just absolutely loved it."
The left-footer is a strong one-on-one defender who likes to run the ball out of the back half.
He made his first representative team in the under-14s but really stamped himself as a draft prospect in the past two years.
Last year he shone with the Tassie Mariners as an overage under-16 player at the national championships, and took another step forward with the under-18s this year.
And after a week where the draft was sandwiched between his final four school exams, Schade was more than keen to cast an eye to next year.
"You've got to aim for the highest level, which is getting a game in the firsts," he said.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
