DRAFT day is a nervous and exciting time for Australia’s most talented youngsters and for key defender Ryan Schoenmakers it was no different in 2008.

A slightly built key forward from South Australia, Schoenmakers hoped to be selected in second or third round of the National Draft after playing most of his football in the SANFL reserves that year.

He never made it to the senior side as a draft hopeful and thus expected to be waiting a while for his name to be called on draft day, on Saturday 29 November way back in 2008.

Surprisingly, he didn’t have to wait as long as he thought to hear his name.

Hawthorn had won the Premiership just two months earlier, shocking Geelong on Grand Final day to win the 2008 flag and thus held selection 16 in the draft.

They picked Schoenmakers.

“I was hoping to go in the second or third round, with that I would have been happy but when I got called out as pick 16 for Hawthorn, I was absolutely stoked,” Schoenmakers reflected.

“I remember dad jumping up and screaming – it was basically just a big party.”

Schoenmakers spent draft day with those he holds dearest, his family and too, invited some close friends from school and his girlfriend at the time for a barbecue and to see if his dream of making it onto an AFL list would be realised.

The group tuned into the live stream on the AFL website, while his dad listened in on the radio in another room.

Nerves jangled as club recruiters named their choices but that soon turned to frustration as his dad began screaming just before Hawthorn was about to read their selection.

“There was a bit of a delay because dad was in the other room listening on the radio and we had the stream up, so we were a bit behind,” he recalled.

“Dad came in screaming and we were like ‘shh shh let us hear it’, then we obviously knew what happened.

“It was an unbelievable feeling.”

What followed from that moment, where all Schoenmakers had worked for throughout his junior football days was a whirlwind.

Of course, he needed to move from Adelaide to Melbourne.

“There was just an influx of text messages from all the boys, coaches and people from the Club,” he said.

“I remember ‘Jase’ (Player Development Manager, Jason Burt) calling me to explain the process and the travelling arrangements.

“It took a while to sink in. At the start it was a tough time for me because I had to move out of Adelaide – I was drafted on the Saturday and on a plane on the Sunday, it all happened very quickly.  

“I didn’t have much time to actually think about what was going on, it all sort of just blended in but the Club made it really easy for me.”

Like most draftees though and despite the welcoming nature of the Club, the feeling of arriving and being part of the club that had just won the 2008 premiership was surreal.

Luckily, he was barracking for the Hawks in the 2008 Grand Final and admired Lance Franklin and Luke Hodge in particular.

“I remember watching the premiership and going for Hawthorn on that day because I loved watching ‘Bud’ (Lance Franklin) up forward, he had a big year that year and ‘Hodgey’ was super in the Grand Final and leading by example,” he remembered.

“To watch that and then a week later end up shaking a few of those guys’ hands, it was pretty surreal for me at the time.”

Schoenmakers was drafted with teammates Liam Shiels and Luke Lowden, while the departed Shane Savage and Jordan Lisle were also among the class of 2008.