Brownlow Medalist Jimmy Bartel takes usback to when his name was called out at number eight in the 2001 nationaldraft.
Luckily for Bartel his nerves were partly settledahead of the draft having received a house visit from Geelong’s recruiting andlist manager only hours prior to the announcement.
“The night before the draft Stephen Wellscame over to my house and said ‘with our first pick we’ll take you’, so thatsort of eased a lot of the pressure,” Bartel told Cats TV.
However, the excitement of knowing he was aboutto embark on an AFL career in his hometown still meant for a long and sleeplessnight. Bartel remembers being so exhausted by the time the day arrived that he actuallymissed hearing his own name.
“I actually went up to the draft - it wasone of the very few times where it wasn’t televised or on radio,” Bartel said.
“So Mick Turner, the General Manager of theFalcons, drove myself and Luke Hodge up because we all knew that Luke Hodge wasgoing to be the number one pick.
“After they called Luke Hodge’s name atpick one they just belted through the first 10 and I actually missed my nameeven being called out, so I looked up on the board and there was already 20picks there.
“I had to scroll through it and I found Iwas lucky enough to be pick eight for the Cats.”
Geelong drafted eight players that year:
Jimmy Bartel - 8
James Kelly - 17
Charlie Gardiner - 23
Steve Johnson - 24
Gary Ablett jr – 40 (Father/Son)
Henry Playfair - 41
Matthew McCarthy - 69
David Johnson - 81
