READ MORE: 'It's an amazing story' - Long to play first AFL game for West Coast Eagles A PLEASANT surprise is how former Bendigo Pioneer Noah Long sums up the moment earlier this week he was told he would be making his AFL debut for the West Coast Eagles on Saturday. It was in Tuesday afternoon's team meeting when Echuca's Long learned of his impending selection for the Eagles against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium in Saturday's opening round of the 2023 season. "Our captain Luke Shuey announced it... I didn't have any idea it was happening and I probably wasn't expecting it either," Long told the Bendigo Advertiser this week. "Although I hadn't been expecting it, it was obviously a huge relief and some reward for effort, but there's obviously a lot of work to be done and still so much to learn." Long's selection in the Eagles' round one team has provided an opportunity for the 18-year-old this week to reflect on the challenges he has had to overcome in recent years on his path to becoming an AFL player. His time at the Pioneers was hampered by injury as he firstly battled knee tendonitis and then suffered a broken collarbone in the opening minutes of round one last year against the GWV Rebels. And with COVID disruptions also to what is now known as the Coates Talent League competition, frustratingly, Long had spent more time off the field than on it over the previous three years. "This is a good moment for reflection to think about this day that is coming on Saturday," Long said. "I think most people who play footy do so to, hopefully, play AFL... whether that's one game or 200 games. "To think that I was battling a lot of tendonitis issues over the years with my knee and then with COVID and then going through the broken collarbone, there has been a lot of having to keep believing in myself and what I could give rather than being able to go out and prove it. "I'm very grateful now that I can get a full run at it because after you've had a few injuries and when you're sitting out more often than you're playing it really has taught me to be grateful that I have the opportunity to play and that when you get your body right everything can start to come along with it." Despite his lack of football over the past three years the Eagles used what was the second-last pick in last November's National Draft - No.58 - on Long, who after his injury setbacks transformed his game from midfielder to small forward. Among the performances that would have caught the eye of Eagles' recruiters was in mid-July last year when Long kicked three goals for Victoria Country against Western Australia in the National Championships. "Tenacious and hard at the contest, the speedy Victoria Country small is renowned for his clear hands and is a highly-effective ground level player," is how the Eagles described Long after drafting him. And four months on in his new surrounds Long is relishing the move west. "It has been a bit of a whirlwind when you look at the four months since I got drafted," Long said. "When you get to a new club it's all about trying to train as hard as you can and impress your team-mates through your work-rate to earn their respect. "Between doing that and learning the ropes as a first-year player, it does only feel like yesterday that I came into the club. "At the start of the week I probably didn't really think that I'd be playing on Saturday, so now that I've got an opportunity to play is great." Long has already had a taste of what to expect in his first AFL game on Saturday against the Kangaroos after playing in the Eagles' match simulation win over Port Adelaide last month. "I was lucky to play in our intra-club match as part of the A team and then back it up again the following week in the match sim against Port Adelaide," Long said. "So I've had a bit of a look at it and that game against Port was a really good opportunity to experience the standard of an AFL game because as a first-year player you're obviously going into the season fairly blind. "I really haven't played much footy against men and I took a lot out of that game in terms of the areas I need to keep working on. "I suppose you'd say it was a bit of a wake-up call as to what it's all about and I've really enjoyed having that taste of it before coming into the heat of round one." Long is one of two former Bendigo Pioneers on West Coast's list this year; the other being 2018 Eagles' premiership player Tom Cole, who hasn't played since 2021 after suffering an ankle injury in February last year. "Tom was great when I got to the club in welcoming me in and helping me form a connection with the boys on the list," Long said. "All the Victorian boys on the list have had to do what I have experienced and I find there's a lot of similarities with people who you come from the same state as and that's where you form some of your closest relationships at the start. "Tommy has been great in helping settle me into Perth and the West Coast Eagles." Saturday's North Melbourne-West game starts at 1.45pm. Meanwhile, Sandhurst product Fergus Greene has been named in Hawthorn's team at full-forward for its clash against arch-rivals Essendon at the MCG on Sunday. The Hawks provided Greene with a second chance at an AFL career when they signed the former Western Bulldog as a delisted free agent in November. Greene previously spent four years and played five senior games for the Bulldogs after being selected with pick 70 in the 2016 National Draft. After being delisted by the Bulldogs at the end of 2020 Greene spent the past two years playing with Hawthorn's VFL affiliate Box Hill. "I'm really excited and just feel a lot more comfortable now with where I am at having done two years in the workforce because you know what's on the other side," Greene told the Bendigo Advertiser back in November after joining the Hawks. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: