“THERE have been a lot of hard days and tough times, great moments along the way too.
“But there hasn’t been a greater moment than this.”
When you consider Wade Derksen’s football journey, it’s no surprise that when the Blues came calling, he made that four-day drive from Darwin to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
From Nightcliff, to Essendon, to Nightcliff, to Peel Thunder, to GWS, to Nightcliff.
From the NTFL, to the VFL, to the NTFL, to the WAFL, to the VFL, to the NTFL.
And now, finally, Carlton. And now, finally, the AFL stage.
Throughout his time on GWS’ AFL list, Derksen thought he was close a number of times, whether that was as a key forward or key defender.
But after 58 VFL games for the Giants, he was unsuccessful when it came to making his elite level debut. That will all change on Good Friday.
“It makes it all worth it, all the hard work I’ve put in over the journey,” Derksen told Carlton Media.
“I was over the moon. I’m so grateful for this opportunity - I was shaking before [the announcement], thinking ‘This is a bit unusual’.
“I’ve had some hope for a while now, so when it finally happened, that’s when all the nerves and excitement came through.”
The news was broken when his brother Zac gate-crashed the Blues’ team meeting, letting Wade know the dream was about to come true.
Zac will have to put his own local football plans on hold this week for Wade’s first game… with the debutant thinking there could be a fair few latecomers arriving into Melbourne Airport from Darwin.
“It’s tough! I can’t put a number on it - it could be upwards of 50 people.
“They’re over the moon. I got off the phone to [partner] Deika, she was so happy. She’s probably more excited than I am, she’s been part of the journey the whole way.
“It doesn’t just mean a lot to me, it means a lot to my whole family.
“It was an awesome day [on Thursday] and there’s a lot of nerves, but come Friday, it’s game day. I just want to do my thing for the team, give it 100 per cent and hopefully walk away with the win.”
