Depending on how you look at it, Cats rookie Tom Ruggles has a single text message to thank for changing his life.

That’s if you ignore the fact the 23-year-old then landscaper put together an impressive season for Geelong’s VFL program – one in which he claimed the club’s best and fairest.

There is no doubt he had caught the eye of Cats recruiting and list manager Stephen Wells long before the dashing defender took it upon himself to contact Wells personally just days before the draft – but for the sake of a fairy tale, it certainly helped.

“I hadn’t really heard too much from Wellsy and I was just at work thinking I’ve only got one chance left,” Ruggles said.

“I put my case forward as to why I think I could step up and have a good crack at it … and have the chance to play AFL footy.”

“Wellsy called me at lunchtime that day and asked if I could come to the club that night and speak to him with Simon Lloyd and Steve Hocking as well.”

Whether the maturity and desire Ruggles demonstrated that day helped his cause or not, he was selected with pick 44 in the following day’s rookie draft and has not put a foot wrong in his first pre-season at AFL level.