Geelong welcomed seven draftees at the 2024 National and Rookie Draft, and after three months in the AFL system, Geelong’s Rookie Journal written series will help you get to know some of the new faces at the Geelong Football Club and the stories that led them to become AFL footballers.   

Patrick Retschko was the first to sit down with Cats Media and he tells us about his journey from Auskick in Malvern East to the Geelong Football Club.    

I grew up in Malvern East, I lived there for 18 years before moving down here.   

Predominantly I was an athlete, I did a lot of athletics before playing football but I always had a deeper love and desire to play football.  

I started Auskick a year younger, I always played up a level with my brother. He was a big football fan, so he was into Auskick as young as you can be, and I was lucky to jump onboard with him.  

I remember running around nice and early in the morning, up at 5.30am with my Richmond Tigers gear on ready to have a kick around. That is my first memory of football.  

After that I played at the Malvern East Knights, then spent a bit of time at St Kilda City under Darren Crocker, who has a bit do with the Kangaroos AFLW team.  

My junior career was interesting because I spent a lot of time under different coaches, a lot of them came with different philosophies.  

Towards the back end of junior football, I spent a lot of time trying to be versatile and playing different positions, which is something you don't usually focus on as a junior footballer. It was also about learning to love and enjoy the game, but junior football was huge for me in developing my versatility.   

I realised my AFL dream when I was pretty young.   

In under 12's I made the state Victorian team and they presented a fact at the start, that historically anywhere between six to nine players from that team would be drafted. From a young age it is pretty real coming through and having objective statistics presented to you, so from there it was always in the back of my mind.  

In terms of inspiration I took a bit off Chris Judd, being a fellow Caulfield Grammarian.  

A lot of his game I tried to find applicable in mine, he was a superstar so being half the player he was would still be a very good player. I liked the way he was so explosive and takes the game on, especially as he got older.  

My first interaction with Geelong came when I was sitting in chemistry class, which certainly wasn't my favourite subject. You are not normally meant to have your phone on you in class either, but I did and it did the double buzz for a message notification.  

It was Simon Murphy (Geelong Cats List Manager) who reached out which was cool, that was pretty close to the draft actually. They came to my house the day I finished school so it was a lot to process at the time. 'Murph' came in and he was really kind, he wasn't too imposing and didn't hit me with too many hard questions which was good.  

Signing the contract with Geelong was unreal.  

It was a bit of a surreal moment, sitting down with Mum and Dad to have a read through it. Obviously a lot of it goes over my head, but it was the fact that we were reading through it together and looking at the terms, it was a lot of fun.  

My family and friends are definitely something that I hold pretty close to my heart.  

I like to remind myself of where I have come from and who has helped me along the way. I am very lucky to have a large external family and a very close immediate family, so it is safe to say that I have a lot of support behind me which I am really appreciative for.  

Stay tuned as Cats Media chats to all of Geelong’s draftees after their first three months in the AFL system.  

Cheer on the Cats when they take on St Kilda on Saturday at Marvel Stadium with 36% off Flexi 6 Memberships. Get six general admission tickets that you can use at our home or away games in Victoria this season.

If you can't make the game, catch all the action and save on Kayo with a Digital Plus Membership and score a FREE Jeremy Cameron Bobblehead.

With interstate games against Brisbane, Adelaide, Port Adelaide and West Coast in the first 15 rounds, Cats fans can enjoy 33% off Interstate memberships.

Check out the entire range of packages at membership.geelongcats.com.au