‘Flat’ Henry’s perfect pick-me-up

JACK Henry went to bed on Friday night feeling down with the world.

Having sat through the National Draft at his Newtown home and not heard his name called out, the new Geelong rookie admits to feeling ‘flat’ at being overlooked.

However, that all changed at around 4:10pm yesterday when the former star junior athlete was selected by the Cats with their first pick in the Rookie Draft.

“It was really exciting,” he said of seeing his name come up on the computer screen.

“I got flat for a couple of days after, but then straight back into it with the Rookie Draft to lift you back up again.

“I’ve been a Geelong supporter all my life and been to all three of the flags.”

Helping Henry get through the last couple of days was a phone call on Saturday afternoon from Geelong recruiting boss Stephen Wells.

“He let me know he was keen on picking me up, and hoping I would fall into the spot where they would be able to (pick me),” Henry, who grew up idolising retired great Jimmy Bartel, said.

“I guess I didn’t think too deeply about the Rookie Draft, I maybe dwelled a bit too much not going in the National.

“But it’s all worked out wonderfully now.”

It caps a whirlwind 18 months for the St Mary’s junior, justifying his decision to take his focus from athletics and devote his athletic ability to football during 2015.

Henry played two games at the end of that season before coming to prominence this year, playing a key role at both the Falcons and with the St Joseph’s College 1st XVIII team that took out the Herald Sun Shield.

“It wasn’t really the No.1 goal (to be drafted),” he said.

“I always though of it (football) week-by-week … weekly goals and things like that.

“It was always a hope to get drafted, but it crept up later in the year when it all started to get a bit more hectic.

“It was never really a long-term goal, I guess, but all the short-term stuff led to it.”

Story and image courtesy of K-Rock Football