Lachie McNeil is licking his lips at the opportunity to work with the Western Bulldogs star-studded midfield.

The 19-year-old midfielder had his name called out by the Bulldogs with pick 11 in Thursday’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft and will call VU Whitten Oval home from Monday.

New recruit Adam Treloar is high on his list for a few early tips.

“It’s probably the best midfield in the competition right now, so it’s pretty exciting,” McNeil told westernbulldogs.com.au.

“There’s so many people you could shape your game on, but I’m probably most excited to get to watch a bit of Adam Treloar.

That’s the type of midfielder I’d love to be, that midfielder who runs all day and uses his speed.

“But there’ll be bits and pieces I take from each player, like Dunks’ inside mid stuff and Bont’s exquisite foot skills.

“Getting to work with those types of players will be good for my game and just exciting in general.”

Draft day was equally exciting for the South Australian draftee – despite spending it at work.

After the heartbreak of missing out in 2019, McNeil took his game to another level in 2020.

He tried to add different strings to his bow, spending time at half forward, half back and on a wing to complement his inside midfield skills, playing every game for Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFL – including their premiership triumph.

And he made it off the forklift in time at work to see his name pop up on screen on Thursday morning.

“I’d done a few orders and it got to (draft time). I knew the feed was coming up and I thought I’d sit down and watch it with some co-workers,” McNeil said.

“We started watching just after the first pick, and it quickly jolted to pick eight after two minutes.

“I got a text message and then it popped up on the screen about 10 second after. I was pretty surprised, very speechless.

“I spent a couple of hours at work trying to stay under control with the phone – it was just going off.”

For someone who has been overlooked on draft day, McNeil is grateful for his opportunity – and determined to make the most of it.

“I had no clue going into the draft whether I was even a chance,” he said.

“I was hoping someone would call my name out. I knew the Bulldogs was a chance, but I didn’t know how much of a chance.”

“I just wanted a chance. It’s all I wanted, it’s everything. I’m going to give it the best shot I can.”

After working full-time through COVID-19 this year, McNeil is ready to be a full-time footballer.

He’ll meet most of his new teammates for the first time on Monday, but might have to come up with a new nickname before then after a flurry of texts came through from them following the draft.

“Lachie Hunter messaged me saying I need to find a new nickname – that he didn’t know what nicknames I had going for me, but that was Lachie was already taken,” McNeil said with a laugh.

“He said I could probably have it and he’d stick with Hunts.”