It all started with a phone call from Gold Coast Football Club recruiting manager Scott Clayton to my management.

I must admit that my manager David Riolo thought it was a prank from one of his friends.

I would have thought the same thing.

Obviously everyone knew I was looking for a contract somewhere else but never did we think an offer would come from an AFL club.

But what we thought was a joke has become reality.

When I realised it wasn't a joke I started to think about it more seriously and questioned whether I could play the game.

That was the biggest thing for me just wondering whether I could make it in a different sport.

I knew I had the basic fundamentals and they could be easily transferable to AFL.

But whether I could make it at an elite level was the question bouncing around in my mind.

I asked myself that question constantly in the early stages.

To help me with this I headed down to Melbourne for a bit of a training session with some key AFL people.

I wasn't exactly nervous heading down but more tired than anything because I played for the Broncos against the West Tigers the night before.

I went down with my girlfriend Emma Harding and then David met us in the afternoon.

Admittedly I started to get a bit nervous on the way to the kick around knowing that I would be meeting with the likes of AFL legend Nathan Buckley as well as AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan, game development manager Dave Matthews and AIS-AFL Academy high-performance coach Jason McCartney.

At a park in Carlton I did some short and long-distance kicking with the boys as well as some handball drills.

We did about three or four drills to test my ability. I felt really comfortable and getting the feedback was encouraging.

They told me they were happy with my kicking technique and the way I adapted to handballing on both sides of my body.

It was very pleasing and I walked away with more confidence knowing that I could play the game.

I didn't want to sign straight away, instead I let it sit with me for a couple more weeks.

Then I received a scouting report Scott, as well as some comments from Buckley and McCartney.

Reading that reassured me what I already knew - I can play AFL.

In the end it was the challenge of crossing codes to AFL that got me over the line and that's why I put pen to paper.

Being a pioneer in this regard was also particularly appealing.

Let it be known that I am not switching codes just to make up the numbers - I want to become an elite AFL player.

I was given a Sherrin football by Jason after the kick around in Melbourne so I have had it for a while now.

To be honest I am yet to use it because it has been a very busy period with Origin and Broncos commitments.

Now that it is out in the open I certainly feel a lot more comfortable going down to the park to kick the Sherrin.

I can't wait to work with GCFC coach Guy McKenna and I have also met with some of the other coaching staff at the club.

Moving to the Coast is going to be fantastic because I really enjoy the city.

I have never seen the family side of the city so I am looking forward to actually making a home and living on the Coast.