By BRAD McGRATH
Mt Eliza ruckman Lewis Pierce had his dream come true when St Kilda called him out at pick 75 in Thursday night’s AFL draft on the Gold Coast, and his packing his bags to go to training in Colorado.
The first call Pierce received from the Seaford-based Saints was from someone quizzing him about his passport, with the Dandenong Stingrays youngster to fly out with the rest of the team tomorrow for a high-altitude camp in America.
“I’ve got to go and buy some cold weather gear — I’ve just got my clothes for summer,” he joked.
There was a huge sigh of relief in the Pierce household when they learnt Lewis would not be straying far from home.
He describes being drafted to the Saints as the ideal situation.
“I was a Hawthorn supporter but St Kilda is so close and with their ruck situation and their developing list I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
“Mum was probably the one who didn’t want me to go anywhere.”
Pierce stands at 202cm but admittedly will be a work in progress with his slender frame weighing just 87 kilograms.
The prospect of working with the Saints No. 1 big man Ben McEvoy, the experienced Justin Koschitzke and Gold Coast recruit Tom Hickey has Pierce excited.
Fellow Stingray Nathan Wright was also picked up by the Saints with pick 24, which Pierce says has taken away some of the nerves of joining an AFL club.
“It’s pretty good that when you’ve got your first day there you will know someone,” he said. “Tom Curran came from Mt Eliza as well and he was training with us when I first started with the Stingrays. “Darren Minchington is another one at the Saints who is from the peninsula.”
Pierce, who turned 18 on November 16, said St Kilda coach Scott Watters had spoken to him briefly to welcome him to the club.
“He, with a couple of the other coaches went through a few goals for the preseason and the Christmas period,” he said. “I guess I just need to bulk up a bit to make sure I don’t get injured.”
Pierce joined the Stingrays’ program as an under-15 player. He was also a member of Haileybury College’s successful football program and played the bulk of his junior football with Mt Eliza Redlegs.
Stingrays coach Graeme Yeats said Pierce had all the attributes to be successful at AFL level and was confident his injury woes were just “growing pains”.
“I haven’t seen many kids at 203 that can pick the ball up off the ground like him,” he said. “He’s certainly a project player but if you look at players like Sandilands and Cox they took a while.”
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