Demons draft Norwood's Alex Georgiou in rookie draft but he's too busy to notice

ALEX Georgiou was wearing a hard hat and supervising cranes lifting 50-tonne beams when he officially became a Melbourne player.

ALEX Georgiou was wearing a hard hat and supervising cranes lifting 50-tonne beams when he officially became a Melbourne player.

Rather than follow Wednesday's AFL rookie draft online, the 23-year-old civil engineer was working on a construction site as part of the duplication of the Southern Expressway.

It took a string of text messages and phone calls - most of which he was too busy to answer - for the 187cm Norwood full-back to realise he would be getting an unexpected crack at the elite level.

"We were setting up for this lift and the messages started flying through so I had a bit of an idea," said Georgiou, who the Demons selected with pick No. 35.

"I missed a stack of calls but chose one of the unknown numbers and it happened to be (Demons coach) Paul Roos.

"It's been pretty tough (because) I've been trying to take work calls as well as these other calls and trying to do my job.

"My team have had to co-ordinate a 450-tonne crane and 350-tonne crane sitting on either side of a bridge, picking beams up from each end and dropping them into place.

"I'm bloody delighted Melbourne has given me this opportunity."

For the Redlegs, Georgiou has built a reputation as a no-frills, team-oriented defender.

He has the same approach to his work, which was why did not consider staying home to follow the draft despite Melbourne indicating on Monday it was a strong chance to snare him.

"I wanted to make sure I worked until it was official so the transition is as seamless as possible for my workmates.

"My boss has been awesome with it and told me 'it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, take it'."

In the lead-up to last month's SANFL grand final, then Norwood coach Nathan Bassett told The Advertiser Georgiou should be on an AFL list but was being ignored by scouts because he was too ungainly.

A few days after the game, Melbourne made contact.

"I didn't think anyone would give me an opportunity because I'm not the prettiest footballer going around," said Georgiou, who made his SANFL debut in June 2010.

"But now I'm keen to test myself at the best level."

Among the other SA-based players rookie-listed on Wednesday was Port Adelaide Magpies forward Luke Reynolds (Carlton).