Don't dream it's over - Brad Helbig gets his chance in the AFL Matt Windley
Herald Sun
November 26, 2010 WHILE hundreds of young footballers sat glued to their TV screens last week, waiting to learn their fate in the AFL draft, Brad Helbig was at a pizza shop with his girlfriend.
Citing nerves, Helbig said he couldn't bring himself to watch the telecast and instead waited for a phone call from a former coach to tell him that he'd been drafted to Richmond with pick No. 47.
"We were just at Domino's," Helbig said this week.
"I was getting into the old creamy chicken and cherry tomatoes. She goes all right.
"I relied on a phone call to give me the news, which is pretty strange I guess. I thought it'd be best not to watch to ease the nerves a bit, but in the end it ended up cutting dinner a bit short.
"(Pizza) is something I'll definitely have to cut back on now. We thought on draft night we could go out and treat ourselves a bit. But now I'll have to get the skin folds down and start eating healthy."
The 18-year-old admitted to feeling a tinge of sadness at the thought of moving away from Adelaide, but said he accepted the realities of shifting base to follow his AFL dream.
It's a dream that seemed far from reality, however, when Helbig failed to make the cut for the South Australian under-18 team this year.
But instead Helbig made the most of the setback and caught the eye of the Tigers by making a name for himself as a tough inside midfielder for SANFL club West Adelaide.
"I was always at training, but I just never got selected to play a game," he said of his omission from the national championship side.
"But I talked to a lot of people and was surprised by the amount of players that had been drafted that didn't get a gig in the national championships.
"Not getting picked for SA meant I could go back to West Adelaide. I played reserves and then eventually played seniors so it was a silver lining, I guess, not getting picked."
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/dont-dream-its-over/story-e6frf9jf-1225961128186
