Echuca’s Noah Long is set to take flight at the elite footballing level after being selected by the West Coast Eagles in the 2022 AFL Draft on Tuesday night.
Long is bound for Perth after he was selected in the fourth round by the Eagles, taken with pick 58.
It is a dream come true for Long, who said he was thrilled to become an Eagle.
“It is a very good feeling, that’s for sure,” Long said.
“To get the opportunity, I could not be happier. I am very excited to be an Eagle.
“I have spoken to many people over the past couple of days and I haven’t heard one bad thing about Perth, and that also just feeds into that excitement as well.”
Long was with his family at home in Echuca on draft night, alongside parents, Holly and Dylan Butler, sisters Imogen and Lily Butler, and his grandparents.
“It was good to celebrate with the people who mean the most to me,” Long said.
The small forward-midfielder began his footballing journey with the Echuca Murray Bombers, starting off at Auskick and playing in a junior premiership in the under-14s.
Long spent the past two years with the Bendigo Pioneers in the NAB League, while also playing footy and studying at Geelong Grammar.
Long has a wealth of experience in the Big V too, having represented Vic Country at the under-16, under-17 and under-18 levels.
He played four games for Country at this year’s NAB AFL National Championships, booting three goals in his side’s win over Western Australia.
Long said he had met with West Coast before the draft and had a feeling he was on their radar.
But he also admitted that as the night went on, he started to think he may not be selected at all.
“I met with the Eagles at the combine and they followed up with another interview in Melbourne. I knew that they were keen, and they were a team that I was circling as a potential destination and I couldn’t be happier to go there,” he said.
“When it gets that late in the draft, and the thought starts to wonder towards ‘maybe I won’t get picked up’, it makes the feeling now and the feeling to be an Eagle even better.
“Initially I was just in shock, and I think am still in shock, to be honest.”
After being drafted, Long met with team officials from the Eagles in Echuca, and he said he had already received messages from West Coast players and coaches.
He is set to fly to Perth on Friday to meet his new coaches and teammates, before returning home for Christmas.
“As a kid, it is always the dream to play AFL,” he said.
“From Auskick to under-16s, I never thought of it as a goal to get drafted, it was just more of a dream.
“As it got more serious then it started to become a goal, and then it started to seem more reachable. I just knew if I worked hard and put a lot of effort in, it would have the potential to happen.“
Long said his family had played a huge role in supporting him throughout his footballing journey, something he had come to appreciate more as his career progressed.
“My parents have been amazing, in both the advice towards footy and towards life. Their support is something that I cherish a lot, and that extends to my whole family,” he said.
Long also thanked his boyhood club Echuca, as well as the Bendigo Pioneers and Geelong Grammar.
“They have helped me get to where I am today,” he said.