Essendon draftee Garrett McDonagh has revealed how he emailed AFL clubs in a desperate attempt to be picked up in this year’s draft.
The 25-year-old’s lifelong dream was finally realised when he was drafted by Essendon with pick 50 on the second night of the AFL Draft, a dream that had been years in the making.
McDonagh was taken aback by the selection, which came after a solid season with Richmond’s VFL side, and explained how he’d taken matters into his own hands in the lead-up to the draft.
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“I was expecting nothing,” McDonagh said.
“I wrote to a few clubs after last season, just to get my name out there. I had no manager so I was trying to do it myself, I just wrote to a few clubs and had a response from a few of them.
“A couple of weeks ago I had a call from [Essendon list boss Adrian Dodoro] and it was an amazing call, one I’ll never forget.”
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McDonagh’s selection is made even more incredible by the fact that he’d fallen out of love with the sport and virtually given up a couple of years earlier.
“There was faith lost, I gave up footy at the start of 2018, I went and did [American football] punting with Nathan Chapman at ProKick,” he said.
“I sat down and had a really good think, [I] wanted to put my best foot forward and spend some money on my body, I did that and here I am.”
McDonagh is the second member of Richmond’s VFL team to find a spot on Essendon’s list after halfback Sam Durham was picked up by the Bombers in the mid-season draft.
“Garrett is a player who deserves an opportunity,” Dodoro told Essendon’s website.
“We felt he was one of the better ready-made players in the pool this year. Even though he’s 25 years of age, we think he’s got a lot of football left in him.
“He’s an elite left-foot kick and has fantastic endurance. We’re looking forward to him playing a lot of senior football for us.”