What happens when an AFL dream turns to dust
Sitting in front of his computer, surrounded by family, Bailey Banfield refreshes his browser.
It is AFL rookie draft day in 2016, and the then-18-year-old's hopes of playing are pinned on being selected by any one of its clubs after starring in back-to-back WAFL colts premiership teams at Claremont.
External Link: Instagram post: Bailey Banfield reaches for mark playing for Claremont colts
"There's none of the glamour of the actual [AFL] draft," Banfield recalled.
"At 2:00pm on a Monday, it's not televised and you're sitting on your computer.
"I just had my family in the room with fingers crossed, refreshing it every couple of seconds, and waiting and waiting and hoping to see your name pop up."
It did not. Banfield was not selected by any of the 18 AFL clubs that year.
"When it didn't [pop up], and you realise 'oh no, that was it', there was definitely a bit of shock. I was really disappointed," he said.
"A couple of minutes later, your manager calls. He's saying how disappointed he is and how he thought you should have gone, and all those sorts of things.
"You've got this dream and this pathway, and all things being perfect I get drafted that first year and I'm playing AFL footy the next season and everything goes great.
"It was a bit of a shock to the system when it doesn't work out the way you plan and the way you dream."
Heartbreak turns to motivation
Banfield could not dwell on not being picked up — two hours later, he had to front up to pre-season training at WAFL club Claremont.
"I felt it was circumstances outside of my control as to why I didn't get drafted," he said.
"That sort of gave me that little bit of comfort that I did try my best, but it didn't work out for me."
Out of the heartbreak, he also found the motivation to push even harder.
Banfield spent last year playing for the Tigers, winning the club's best and fairest as a teenager, and studying commerce at the University of Western Australia off the back of a seriously good ATAR score of 98.75.
Some say he could be running the AFL one day, not just playing in it.
External Link: AFL tweet: Video of Bailey Banfield kicking goal
Banfield can also lay claim to being a premiership coach, having spent a season last year coaching the Swanbourne Tigers' Year 9 team. They won the flag with the last kick of the game in the grand final.
Fast forward to 2018, and it is hard to believe the big-bodied tagger, who has played every game in his debut AFL season as a 20-year-old, was at first overlooked.
In fact, 209 players were selected ahead of him before the Fremantle Dockers pounced with their first pick in the 2017 AFL Rookie Draft.
A promising debut season
Banfield, who grew up in Broome where his family are big players in the pearling industry and later attended Scotch College, said the extra season in the WAFL had been a blessing.
"I am definitely more prepared walking into an AFL system this year as opposed to if I had been drafted that first year," he said.
External Link: Instagram post: Picture of Bailey Banfield at Fremantle Dockers training
"You've just got that extra year of learning, developing and growing as a person and maturing as well. That really holds you in good stead when you walk into this AFL environment."
Banfield enjoyed an excellent first season, often required to tag the opposition's best players.
He has shut down stars like Essendon's Zach Merrett and Gold Coast's Aaron Hall, and has played on North Melbourne's Shaun Higgins and Saint Kilda's Jack Steven.
"I really enjoy the one-on-one nature of it, because I'm pretty competitive," Banfield said.
"At the end of the day, did I beat this bloke or did I not? And you're playing against some of the best players in the comp.
"So it's pretty cool when you go up against one of those blokes and you can think to yourself, 'I did the job on him today'."
Now approaching the end of his first year in the AFL, Banfield has his sights set on playing every game for the season.
"Towards the back end of the year, you start to see the finishing line," he said.
"It gives you that energy boost to fight through the soreness and give it a red-hot crack."
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