“What the hell?”: The shock that came after the Roos convinced Mooney to nominate for the AFL Draft

Cameron Mooney was as surprised as anyone when his name was called out by North Melbourne in the 1996 AFL Draft.

A then-17-year-old who simply was not prepared for AFL life at the time, Mooney insists he had not even thought to nominate himself for the draft that year.

However, a call from veteran Kangaroos recruiter Neville Stibbard in the days prior convinced him to lodge the papers.

The Roos would then select him with Pick 56 much to the shock of Mooney himself as well as his TAC Cup under-18s coach David Noble.

“I was living in Canberra and I was 17 when I got drafted,” Mooney said on SEN Breakfast.

“I shouldn’t have been drafted at 17, I was not ready. But I didn’t even put in for the draft.

“Neville Stibbard from North Melbourne rang me two or three days before the draft and said, ‘Why haven’t you entered the draft?’. I said, ‘Well, I’ve got another year of (under) 18s’.

“And I had an unbelievably up and down year (for Turvey Park and the Rams). I had some really good games and some disgusting games, I got suspended, I got thrown back home, all of those kind of things, off-field stuff.

“I wasn’t ready and I had no idea or thought of getting drafted this year, I thought hopefully next year.

“He rang me and said, ‘Go in the draft, you never know what will happen’. Then at Pick 56, bang, my named got called out.

“David Noble was my coach at the New South Wales/ACT Rams and he was more shocked than I was. He walked up and said, ‘Wow, didn’t see that one coming’. He was like, ‘What the hell?’.

“I want over there as a 17-year-old and just was not ready.”

It took until the 1999 season for Mooney to debut for the Kangas, playing 11 senior games that year including the Grand Final win over Carlton.

He admits that he was more keen on joining the Sydney Swans at the time due to the presence of his older brother Jason who coincidentally played in the losing Grand Final to the Roos the same year Cam was drafted.

Meeting Swans icons like Paul Kelly and Tony Lockett got the Swans juices flowing for Mooney as a teenager despite the fact he grew up a Blues supporter.

“They shouldn’t have drafted me either, but I was dirty on Sydney because my big brother was there,” Mooney added.

“I thought I’d love to go to Sydney. I grew up a big Carlton fan, but by the end I was really following the Swans because my brother was playing, I loved Sydney and got to meet Paul Kelly.

“I remember walking in to the change rooms after a game, Jase was walking me around introducing me to the players, ‘Plugger’ (Lockett) and all these guys, it was unbelievable. Then I shook hands with Paul Kelly and I couldn’t not look at his arms. All I kept looking at was his biceps, they were the biggest things I’d ever seen. He just had massive arms.

“So I wanted to go to Sydney but North got me at Pick 56 and I was just like, ‘What the hell?’.”

After his three season with North, the key forward was traded to Geelong in a much-publicised move which saw former Cats captain Leigh Colbert controversially head the other way.

Mooney would then star in Cats premierships in 2007 and 2009, playing 210 games and kicking 295 in the blue and white hoops. He would eventually get to play alongside his brother Jason in 2000 and 2001.

The 2025 AFL Draft takes place this Wednesday and Thursday and you can keep up with all the action on SEN over the course of both nights.