While all eyes were on Marvel Stadium for the AFL Draft, 222km away the Tongala faithful keenly awaited the news that Harley Reid was on his way to the AFL at a special community day.
A crowd of about 300 people gathered at the local clubrooms to hear Harley have his name called out at pick one, including members of the Reid clan, Tonny club members and general well-wishers.
In the lead-up to the draft, barbecues, jumping castles, a colour run and a water slide assisted by the Tongala Fire Brigade made for a relaxed family atmosphere, especially for the kids who had Reid’s face adorned on specially made T-shirts.
“There was probably nearly 300 people down in the end,” Tongala Football Netball Club president Daniel Cox said.
“There were a lot of kids with the colour run prior, but by the time the draft was on, the rooms were packed.
“It was well set up by the committee members, and obviously the community bank helped put it all on, which was nice of them.
“It was a good way to start off and keep the kids entertained while we prepared for 7pm.”
After hearing from Harley’s parents, Mark and Vanessa, on the coverage — with the room erupting in a cheer at a replay of Mark’s famous hanger against Rochester — a packed room waited with bated breath as AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon made his way to the dais at Marvel Stadium.
And at around 7.20pm on Monday, the call everyone had waited for arrived, with Reid confirmed to West Coast.
The cheer went up again back in Tongala, with Reid the first player from the club to take top honours at the draft.
“There’s always been hype over the last 24 months, and you never know until it happens,” Cox said.
“We assumed West Australia was where he would be going if he went number one. It was a good result.
“Obviously a few went down with him to Melbourne, and we had about 10 or 12 Reids down at the rooms. It was brilliant.
“It was a good community event.”