Lachie Schultz was the happiest man at Optus Stadium on Friday when he was told he would be making his round one debut against North Melbourne on Sunday.
The 21-year-old was told by Ross Lyon at a team meeting an hour before Freo’s final training session leading into the game.
A small forward, Schultz arrived at Fremantle with pick no.57 in the 2018 NAB AFL National Draft after a number of impressive seasons in the VFL for Williamstown.
Schultz said that making his debut in front of the Purple Army would make the experience even more special.
“It’s a dream come true. There’s a lot of hard work that’s gone into it, so to finally get the reward is pretty amazing,” Schultz said.
“Everyone’s dream is to come in and play round one, to be able to play here at Optus Stadium in front of all of our fans, I couldn’t be happier.”
Be there to see Lachie debut! Get your tickets to round one here
Schultz’s breakthrough into the AFL comes after three years of being overlooked in the draft.
He juggled life as a footballer and a plumber during his time in the VFL and was on the job when he found out the news Fremantle had drafted him back in November.
“I suppose I wasn’t going to give up on my AFL dream until I knew that I was completely done,” Schultz said.
“I just kept knuckling down and to be sitting here right now, it still doesn’t feel real.
Schultz said he only had time to send a text to his family before turning his focus to training, but was hopeful of seeing a big contingent of family and friends head west for the game.
“I’ve just sent them a quick message, it was just pretty much that I’m playing with a couple of emojis,” Schultz said.
“It was just to let them know I was playing. I’ve still got to train today so I’m trying to keep switched on for that and put everything else aside for now."
