It wasn’t surprising that four players were drafted from the powerful Central Districts club in Adelaide, given they’ve won eight of the past 10 senior SANFL premierships.
Geelong used their top pick in last year’s draft (No.17) to grab mid-sized halfback Daniel Menzel from Centrals and the others to get a chance at AFL level from the club were Jack Trengove (Melbourne), Ben Nason (Richmond) and Luke Tapscott (Melbourne).
But while Trengove and Nason have already had a fair crack at senior football, Menzel is comfortable biding his time in the VFL for a while.
“It doesn’t bother me (that they are playing AFL already), I really want them to do well,” Menzel said.
“My expectations for this season were to manage my body and get it right for the future and play as much as I can.
“Given my injuries in pre-season, to play round one (in the VFL) exceeded those expectations.
“You look at the (AFL) side we’ve got and it isn’t easy (to break in). At the same time it is great to learn from these guys and you will know how hard you had to work (to play AFL for Geelong).
“I would rather develop my footy at a great club than just get a game.”
The injury Menzel referred to was the groin complaint osteitis pubis, which has hampered him for a couple of years now.
He missed plenty of pre-season and said he played the first six rounds of VFL in pain and unable to fully extend himself while running or kicking.
“It pretty much carried through from last year and I spent the majority of pre-season in the gym, working on my core and getting releases from the physio,” he said.
“It gives you confidence that other guys have been through the same thing and the club has got them back, I mean Gary Ablett had OP at the start of his career and (Paul) Chapman.
“You look at them now, they have the best cores going around, you can’t tackle them.
“I am lucky to have such great physios down here, I know they can treat me and we are on the right track.”
The past few weeks have seen noticeable improvements in his condition and Menzel has thrived in the VFL as a mid-sized forward with occasional runs on the ball.
He has booted 15 goals in eight matches, and he played in defence for two of those. Last weekend he got four goals in the win over Werribee.
“I am playing up forward as a third tall, at 189cm it helps because I can play tall or small because I am that in between size (same as Steve Johnson).
“The VFL team is really young but we have been playing some good footy.
“There are definitely a lot more young players in the VFL and it is not as physical as the SANFL but the pace is pretty quick.”
Moving to a football club full-time has gone pretty smoothly for Menzel who is used to hanging with a band of brothers, being No.4 in a brood of six boys who grew up in Golden Grove on the outskirts of Adelaide.
He now lives with two teammates - Mitch Brown and Adam Varcoe - with a host family and says the players at Geelong made him feel at home as soon as he arrived.
“It was a bit surreal when I arrived asking players like Gary Ablett and Bartel things but they make you feel so welcome that they become mates pretty quickly and it is not intimidating at all,” he said.
“The professionalism of the AFL has been an eye opener, especially off the field with the amount of meetings and analysis.
“Also we seem to have recovery every day with our new facilities, which is definitely different from other levels of football.
“They push you to do it every day because it’s so important and makes such a huge difference. If you are training you need to try and remove the lactic acid and make sure you recover 100 per cent.”
Menzel had no trouble finding players to try and emulate when he arrived at Geelong and soon fixed his sights on the very best - reigning co-club champion Corey Enright.
“I watch him all the time, in the games, he is a great player to try and follow,” Menzel said.
