THE GOLD Coast AFL club's latest player signing Zac Smith dreamt about one day playing soccer for Australia.
Smith didn't touch an Aussie Rules football until 21 months ago but the 204cm Rockhampton teenager took to it instantly.
On Tuesday, he was signing his name to a three-year contract with the fledgling Gold Coast club.
"My head is still spinning - I can't quite believe what has happened and how quickly it has happened," Smith said.
When he reports for duty with the Gold Coast on November 1 it will complete a football fairytale which began when a bunch of mates asked him to play Australian football at North Rockhampton High School in October 2006.
"I just liked the whole AFL package - the speed of the game, the varied skills and the competitiveness," said Smith, a former Queensland junior soccer and indoor soccer representative.
"I'd always played soccer and I guess my long-term goal was to play for Australia.
"I was thinking that if things went well maybe at 20 or 21 I might move to Brisbane to see how far I could go.
"I wasn't really too interested in AFL back then although I used to watch the Brisbane Lions on TV ... that all changed when I started playing."
Born in Biloela, Smith is rated a AFL talent given his limited time in the game.
He plays for the Zillmere Eagles in the AFL Queensland Velocity Sports Cup and becomes only the third Rockhampton product to make it into the AFL.
He joins impressive Kangaroos youngster Gavin Urquhart, who this week captured the AFL's Rising Star Award nomination.
The other Rockhampton player to make the AFL is Paul O'Shea, a second-year player at the Western Bulldogs, who is yet to play at senior level.
