The lowest of lows to the highest of highs: How Geelong draftee was made to wait

Geelong made him wait, and wait, and wait.

But finally they called out his name with Pick 69 - Keighton Matofai-Forbes.

The 18-year-old stands at 188cm and is a powerful forward out of the Western Jets.

Matofai-Forbes admits he had no expectations of being drafted in 2024 and instead created backup plans to perhaps generate game time in the VFL netx year.

Now he is preparing for his first senior pre-season with the Cats with the prospect of playing for one of the AFL's premier sides.

The New Zealand-born talent was in shock that his boyhood dream was realised after he believed all hope was lost.

Geelong would finally show faith and pick him with their last selection which was the third last pick of the draft.

“Absolutely ecstatic, like no words could actually explain how I was feeling,” Matofai-Forbes said on SEN's Sportsday.

“It was possibly the lowest of lows and the highest of highs in a single day. It’s definitely the biggest moment of my life to date.

“I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to go (be drafted) the whole night. I was sitting there with a bit of a frown on my face I wasn’t too happy, and I was just waiting for my name.

“The last pick rolls around and I’m packing my things, and everyone is passing on their picks and I was like nope it’s not happening. All of a sudden, my phone starts going off and next thing you know I’m seeing my name across the big screen and Laura (Kane) was calling out my name and I was just screaming and crying pretty much.”

Matofai-Forbes thought his dream was shattered after an injury earlier in the season for Vic Metro during the Naitonal Championships.

Despite a disrupted campaign, he envisions himself as a high-energy individual with the power and strength required to translate his game to the elite level.

“In the Vic Metro game, I tore my hamstring, I was pretty much down and out since then I thought,” Matofai-Forbes said.

“Not being able to get back on the field absolutely shatters anyone, you’ve got to feel for all the other boys that get injured as well. It’s something you don’t take lightly but you take it on the chin and do what you can.

“Now I’m pretty much fully recovered and keen to get stuck into an AFL pre-season.

“I know that I can bring my attributes, my power and my strength. The energy down at the club, I think every club values having those very energetic people, and I think I can bring that on and off the field no matter what.”

Matofai-Forbes joins fellow draftees Jay Polkinghorne (Pick 44), Jacob Molier (Pick 52), Lennox Hofmann (Pick 66) at the Cats, as well as rookie draftees Xavier Ivisic, Patrick Retschko and Joe Pike.