The 18-year-old from Gilston on Queensland’s Gold Coast admitted he was “shattered” when his name wasn’t read out.
The boy from Labrador thought the Lions had only three picks in the draft and the boat had sailed.
But just minutes later, pick 84 arrived and his world changed.
“My number got read out and I said ‘that’s my number’ and the house nearly fell down,” he said.
“We were running around and jumping around. It was crazy. Initially it was bad when I thought I missed out but it ended up being better because it wasn’t expected. It was unbelievable.”
Retzlaff was born in Dandenong, Victoria, but moved to Queensland when he was three and despite being a Western Bulldogs fan, said he always had his heart set on the club that is just an hour north of his home.
Even 24 hours after the move, his head was still spinning.
“It’s unbelievable. I’m on top of the world,” he said.
“It feels like I’m going there on Monday to get autographs and not to train, it just doesn’t feel right. I’m a bit speechless.”
Retzlaff and his father Darren went to Thursday’s opening day of the Australia-West Indies cricket Test at the Gabba to help the teenager take his mind off the pending draft night.
But not even that worked.
“I thought it would be a good father-son day, but I saw Jonathan Brown down on the ground presenting a jersey and I said to dad ‘that could be my captain in 24 hours’ and here I am. It’s so surreal to be even saying that. I still don’t really believe it.”
A call from coach Michael Voss and texts from the likes of Daniel Rich and Jed Adcock helped him feel more at home.
Retzlaff was a ruck-rover his entire junior career but after shooting up 8cm in the past 12 months, was moved into key position posts at Labrador.
He switched between centre half-forward and centre half-back and said the different roles over his young career had helped round his game.
“I’m definitely not a big crash-the-pack type, but I enjoy going hard at the ball,” he said.
“My endurance and workrate are good but I have to work on my first 10 steps.
“I can’t wait to get into it.”
