MAROON-grown teenage stars Ben Keays and Eric Hipwood have been looking forward to tonight’s AFL National Draft in Adelaide their whole lives.

And they cannot wait for it to be done and dusted.

The Lions Academy standouts and All-Australian under-18 representatives are poised to realise their dream by graduating to the senior list at the Gabba.

But the newly introduced rules around drafting Academy players will make that process less of a formality than previous years and raise anxiety levels in the Keays and Hipwood households.

Brisbane are extremely confident they have enough points across their five picks from 38 to 42 to match any bids for the two young guns who would be legitimate top-20 prospects if they were not part of an Academy.

The Lions know rival clubs will attempt to “keep them honest’’ by bidding for Keays and Hipwood. Adelaide has pick No. 9 and is understood to be a chance of bidding for Hipwood.

But nobody in the football industry realistically expects Keays and Hipwood — who have also been in the elite AFL Academy — to be prised away from Brisbane’s clutches

Morningside junior Keays is a silky and hard-working midfielder who has proven to be a ball magnet at every level he has played to earmark him as an AFL-ready first-year player.

The left-footer has been interviewed by a number of clubs in the build-up to the draft.

“I’m excited but quite relieved that the draft has finally come around and it will be done soon. I’m pretty impatient,’’ he said.

“I just want the wait to be over, get on a list, get stuck into it and have a crack at the AFL.

“I’m pretty confident I’ll end up at Brisbane but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little bit of anxiety because you don’t know when the bids might come.

“You can’t put too much thought into it though. Whatever happens happens.”

Hipwood, a towering Caloundra junior, is just as impatient as his Queensland under-18 teammate.

“I just want it to hurry up. I’ve been dreaming about being in this position for a long time now,’’ he said.

“I’d love to stay here with Brisbane but if it doesn’t work out that way, I’d be happy just to get on a list.

Hipwood played for Aspley in the NEAFL grand final and did not look out of place in the decider booting two goals for the Hornets.

Lions CEO Greg Swann said Brisbane was in “a good place” to secure both Keays and Hipwood.

“You are never sure when the bids for them will come but we have enough points up our sleeve to cover them being picked in the first round so we are pretty comfortable about where we are at,” Swann said.

Hawthorn are tipped to bid for Keays with their first round pick.