AFL Draft: Tom Anastasopoulos on being taken by Port Adelaide after live trade

In a flash Tom Anastasopoulos became a Port Adelaide player after a live trade. He opens up on the experience, his chat with Ken Hinkley moments later and his local club.

Tom Anastasopoulos entered the second night of the AFL Draft with no idea whether he would be taken, let alone which club would take him.

The small forward had attracted interest from a handful of clubs as a later pick including Port Adelaide, but he had spoken to the Power just once across the entire season.

Often prospects will get hints from clubs before the draft, but Anastasopoulos didn’t receive any indication.

He was left stunned when Port Adelaide executed a live trade to grab pick 48 and called out his name in the third round.

“It was all a bit of a surprise to me to be honest,” Anastasopoulos said.

“I spoke to Port once this year and yeah they were really good but when they made a trade I thought about it a little but it was just more surprise.

“They said they would love a player similar to what I bring through the Falcons and stuff. It was just a 50/50 thing (them taking me).

“It was a great moment, probably the best moment of my life.”

Tom Anastasopoulos became a Port Adelaide player after a live trade. Picture: Getty Images

Two minutes later and he was on the phone to another product from the Geelong region – his new coach, Ken Hinkley.

Hinkley is part of Geelong local footy folklore for his premiership coaching Bell Park and his iconic three-quarter-time speech in the grand final that went viral.

It didn’t take long for Hinkley to wrap his arms around Anastasopoulos and show his trademark warm and compassion.

“We had a little brief chat about coaching Bell Park and all the other teams that he’s been a part of, even played for Geelong as well.

“He’s a Geelong boy and he understands a lot of players do get homesick over the years. But yeah, he understands and he’ll support you all the way. He’s really good about it.”

NEWTOWN LOVE

Anastasopoulos felt the love from another former Geelong player in David Wojcinski.

The three-time premiership Cat had coached Anastasopoulos as a junior at Newtown & Chillwell and came to his house with a host of his junior coaches to celebrate being drafted by the Power.

“That was very big to me and means a lot, just shows how much love and care they have towards me and to my footy,” Anastasopoulos said.

“I’ve met so many people that have supported me along the way. I’ve had 10 or over 10 coaches from there that have had a major impact on my footy. So if it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.

“They’ve been the 100 per cent support group. I started there when I was eight years old and played all my footy there.”

Tom Anastasopoulos with his Newtown & Chillwell support crew. Picture: Newtown & Chillwell FNC

Before heading off to Adelaide, Anastasopoulos helped run a clinic at Geelong College, who have been crucial to his development in the last two seasons.

He moved to the school from St Joseph’s in Year 11 and while he wondered initially if it would pay off, the program under former Collingwood and St Kilda player Nathan Brown proved to be well worth the investment.

“Helping out young kids who want to be an AFL player one day and look up to you so it was really fun and enjoyed it a lot. Hopefully I can do a few more of those,” he said.

“Obviously I was at Joeys from Year 7 to Year 10 so moving to college, I was kind of thinking like, ‘is it gonna be worth it? But at the end of the day was probably the best decision to go there and learn from obviously ‘Browny’, who’s played AFL and played over 100 games.”

MOSQUITO FLEET

Anastasopoulos has loved his time at the Power so far and is striving to make his AFL debut in 2024.

The 175cm forward, who possesses an elite running capacity and great goal sense, is looking forward to learning off Port Adelaide’s mosquito fleet that Ken calls the ‘little bomb squad’.

Having moved in with Miles Bergman with fellow draftee and goalsneak Lachie Charleson, Anastasopoulos will head back to Geelong over Christmas after Port Adelaide’s pre-season training and bonding trip to the Gold Coast.

And he will get some welcome relief from the sun during the break.

“As a lot of people say, (Adelaide is) bigger and hotter than Geelong, so a lot of people are spot on about that, it’s been real hot,” he said with a laugh.

Originally published as AFL Draft: Tom Anastasopoulos on being taken by Port Adelaide after live trade