As we head towards the 2013 AFL NAB draft the Cats senior defender, Andrew Mackie, joins Cats TV to reminisce about the day when he got the call to say he was relocating to Geelong.

Mackie recalls ending schoolies early so he could be home in time for the national draft. Fortunately for Mackie, there wasn’t a lot of time in between waking from a reckless night’s sleep to his Dad’s phone call.

“A couple of my mates came around Sunday morning early, obviously you wake up pretty nervous and excited. Not long after I got up… my old man went over to my uncle’s house and I got a call and he said we’re going to Geelong,” Mackie recalls.

“Everyone was pretty happy and it’s a day I won’t forget in a hurry.”

Having been picked at number seven Mackie had the whole day to soak up the moment with his family and friends.   

“I remember Mum having a couple of tears at the start but obviously I’ve got a couple of brothers and they don’t show much emotion but we were all pretty happy.”

“It’s always a good thing to be going to an AFL club.

“I suppose for myself the emotions were mixed. I always got homesick as a younger bloke but I was just excited and couldn’t wait to meet the people I’d been watching but at the same time I was a bit scared about what was going to go on and I suppose you’re moving away from home.”  

Mackie was drafted in 2002 from Glenelg in South Australia and since then he has played 198 games including three premierships for the Geelong Cats. Last season the 29-year-old didn’t miss a game, finishing up the year as an All-Australian and in third place for Geelong’s 2013 Best and Fairest.