When the Brisbane Lions read out Zac O’Brien’s name with Pick No.23 at Wednesday’s AFL Rookie Draft, the 180cm midfielder wasn’t worrying about his high school results like many of the other AFL hopefuls who are about to begin their adult lives
Instead, the 23-year-old, who hails from the Victorian country town of Wangaratta, was holding down a temporary position in a Financial Planning office in Richmond, eagerly anticipating the Draft’s outcome.
O’Brien recently completed his Bachelor of Health Sciences (Chiropractic)/Masters of Chiropractic Clinic which will see him become a qualified Chiropractor once his registration arrives in January.
O’Brien took the AFL path in reverse and is happy to have his tertiary qualifications already established before being given the opportunity to embark on a professional sporting career.
“I’ve done it the other way around. I’ve studied and sort of set up my life that way and I’ve been fortunate enough to get an opportunity in the AFL system,” O’Brien told lions.com.au.
Although O’Brien’s qualifications in the field of Chiropractics may be set, it didn’t stop the excitement from creeping in at the hope of igniting an AFL career that might, at times, have seemed unlikely to eventuate.
So after ongoing talks with Lions Recruiting Manager, Stephen Conole, O’Brien’s work colleagues surrounded his computer in anticipation of hearing his name being read out.
“I was in at work and I had about 12 people sitting around a computer and I honestly didn’t know if the Lions were going to pass on me at 23,” O’Brien said.
“I’d had a meeting with Steve (Conole) about two months out from the National Draft and the Club said they were looking at me. They also said that they would seriously consider me for the Rookie Draft if the National Draft didn’t come through.
“I got another call from Steve around 40 minutes before the (Rookie) Draft and he ran me through a few questions and said that the Club was still considering me, although obviously nothing was guaranteed.”
Despite being five years older than most draftees, 2013 was actually the first year that O’Brien had nominated for the Draft.
As a teenager, he played country football in the highly competitive Ovens & Murray League, first for the Wangaratta Rovers before moving to the Yarrawonga Pigeons – the current club of former Lions forward, Brendan Fevola.
Studies took him to Melbourne where he began playing with the Aberfeldie Football Club in the highly competitive Essendon District Football League (EDFL).
In 2013, with Aberfeldie as his second club, O’Brien tested his wares at Essendon’s VFL affiliate club and in 11 games averaged over 22 disposals as a hard-running and attacking midfielder.
A late invite to the state screening saw O’Brien record an outstanding 14.2 in the beep test, putting him firmly in the sights of a selection of clubs – including the Lions.
As it turned out, O’Brien was delighted at eventually being picked up by the Lions.
“I wanted to go to Brisbane, I think there are a lot of opportunities for me up there and I’ll go up there with a clean slate and try and get a game,” he said.
