NATHAN Freeman has always been fast. As a junior he would be quicker than every other player on the ground, burst from packs, dash away and do it over and over again.
His dad David was a 100-metre hurdle schoolboy champion, and Nathan inherited the speed gene.
Nathan played cricket one summer, but it wasn't a great fit.
"That didn't keep him involved," Freeman's mum Natalie says. "It was too slow".
Freeman is in a hurry to get drafted. He has a busy three months between now and when that should happen in November – finishing school at Haileybury College, doing exams, getting fitter, going to the draft combine, and showing a bit more of what he can do – but he has also learned, over the last couple of years, to be patient.
That developed in 2011 when, in the last trial game for Vic Metro's under-16s team, Freeman got pushed on the quarter-time siren. His leg buckled as he fell, and he heard a pop near his knee.
Freeman had only days earlier tested as the best all-round athlete at the under-16s carnival, in an AFL innovation which totals scores for running, jumping and other measures.
His chance to use those traits had come and gone with nothing more than an awkward landing.
The doctor initially told him it was the worst-case scenario, a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but Freeman was mature enough to already be planning ahead.
"I didn't really think about it too much because it had already been done, there wasn't much I could do whichever way it went," he said.
"Then the scans came through and the ACL was all good and it was just a fractured leg. I was out for three months and came back for the last two weeks of the year."
It gave him a chance to enter the pre-season fit, and be ready to go from there.
At the start of 2012, Freeman set himself to play for Vic Metro at the under-18 championships.
He was in strong form for the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup, and after round two, was invited to train with the state team by Anton Grbac, Metro's talent manager. It was what he wanted, so much, but something he knew wasn't possible.
His family had already locked in a two-and-a-half-week holiday in America for his grandfather's 70th birthday. Freeman thought about staying at home and taking his chance, knowing that about three weeks away would mean he would probably have to wait until 2013, but in the end family commitments won out.
"We had it planned for five years so you don't know that he's going to be in that position, then when he was invited, Nathan was like 'Oh no…'" said Natalie.
"Just before we left in his final game he also broke his front tooth, and we didn't have time to visit a dentist before leaving the next day. In all the photos from the trip he's got either his mouth closed or got his tongue behind his tooth. He looked like a hobo."
Freeman got back in time to train a few times with the squad, and saw his Dragons teammates Josh Kelly and Christian Salem, plus other players his age, perform for Metro. It gave him a sense of what he wanted to achieve when the chance came.
Freeman in action against Vic Country during the 2013 Under-18 Championships. Picture: AFL Media
"You like to think you're up there with the best of the boys but I was stoked for them to get that opportunity to show their talent at an earlier stage and do well in most cases," Freeman said.
"I would've liked to have a bit more of that elite environment a bit earlier, but I'm really starting to thrive in it this year."
That much has been clear in 2013. Freeman played three games of Vic Metro's under-18 campaign, in between a niggling ankle injury, and averaged 20 disposals.
He is seen as a probable first-round pick.
Having worked on his build, the 181cm and 85kg youngster was more physical at the clearances.
He would have liked to do more of the things he's known for, like running, bouncing, and kicking goals, but the 18-year-old learned about some parts of the game that aren't necessarily considered his strengths.
"A knock on me was my defensive work rate and Metro were crazy on that. It really helped me and showed me a few of the things you need to do to be elite and take that next step," Freeman said.
"We had one drill called the 'Hrovat drill', which was named after Nathan, who was fanatical for his defensive work the previous year (Hrovat has played seven games for the Western Bulldogs in his debut season.) It was pretty much one-on-ones in a full-ground drill and we would just bust a gut."
Freeman's challenges have taught him that nothing is guaranteed, something his mother knows too, as draft day edges closer.
"I have a lot of faith in Nathan. As a mum, you know who your child is. And even now and then I'll say 'How's it all going?' and he'll say 'It's fine, it's fine.' He's very organised. He thrives on the competition," Natalie said.
"But I am nervous for him because the draft's something he's been building up to through the years. It's like a little apprenticeship to get there, and in one night it can either be what you want or not.
"In saying that as well, whatever happens I think Nathan would cope. I'm nervous for him because I know Nathan really wants it. He's very determined."
