He certainly fits the relaxed Surf Coast vibe, but it is hard to fathom that Sam De Koning's AFL journey commenced in a Torquay caravan park. 

A talented junior playing with the Dandenong Stingrays, De Koning was a highly touted prospect that attracted the attention of numerous AFL teams heading into the 2019 Draft. 

Geelong was one club that expressed their interest in the young defender, heading down to the Surf Coast to meet Sam for the first time. 

De Koning described his first meeting with Geelong, when he sat down with Cats Media to reflect on his draft experience. 

"Most clubs reach out and want to catch up with you," De Koning said. 

"It was easy with Geelong because I have grown up holidaying in Torquay, a lot of my siblings live here.

"We actually met up in my caravan at the Torquay Caravan Park the first time, then that sparked it.

"I was trying to woo them as much as I could to get drafted, because I love it down here and I was lucky enough to be picked. It was a great feeling." 

The 2019 draft class was stacked full of talented youngsters, with some future AFL stars entering the league on the opening night of action. 

Sam De Koning was remarkably not invited to the first night of the draft, instead watching the action unfold on a phone in a random Brunswick pub. 

With no audio playing through the phone, De Koning said he only realised that his AFL dream had been fulfilled when his highlight package started playing following Geelong's pick. 

"I didn't realise I was going to be picked on the first night, until my name actually got read out," De Koning said. 

"I didn't get invited to the green room or whatever they call it, I was just sitting at a pub in Brunswick with most of my family.

"I had the phone set up because they had no TV with the draft on it, we were just hanging out and had it playing in the background with no sound.

"We were watching Geelong's pick pretty closely but we had no sound, then I realised it was me in the highlights after the pick was read out.

"I was the one that celebrated early and then everyone jumped on top of me, there was a lot of tears and happiness." 

Now 62 games into his AFL career, De Koning is a premiership player and has given Cats fans plenty to be excited about heading into the future. 

Sam also opened up on watching his older brother Tom go through the draft process, noting that it gave him the confidence to pursue his own AFL journey. 

"Obviously I have got Tom, my older brother who is playing footy for Carlton," De Koning said. 

"I remember when he debuted at Marvel Stadium, I was in the crowd with my family and I remember thinking to myself, if he can do it then I can too.

"Reality sunk in that it was a possibility to become an AFL player and it sparked something in me, to follow in my brother's footsteps."