They await to hear their fate with friends and family by their side.

Horsham Saints' Rory Taggert might buck that trend.

"I don't want to watch it or listen to it, I'll be too nervous. I'm thinking of heading out of town where I'll have no phone reception," Taggert said.

"I need to find something to take my mind off it otherwise it will be running through my head all day.

"To get picked up would be unreal.

"I'm thereabouts but so are 100 other kids, so it's too hard to pick. Hopefully I'll get lucky and get my name called out.

"Your dream is achieved. It's all I've wanted to growing up. Every kid who plays footy wants to get there.

"You'd feel pretty lucky. It would mean everything."

Taggert is on the radar of at least five AFL clubs.

The 187-centimetre midfielder-cum-forward impressed at AFL Draft Combine in October after he was invited following strong performances for TAC Cup club North Ballarat Rebels.

"I'd never broken three seconds in the 20 metres and I did that for the first time and I had run 14.1 before the camp and I run a 14.8 beep test, so I was happy with that," Taggert said.

"I got third overall in vertical leap and fourth in the handball test."

Taggert reached his goals in those tests but was disappointed with his result in the Nathan Buckley-designed kicking test.

Having prided himself on his precise kicking, the former St Brigid's College student felt he wiltered under the pressure.

"I was telling dad about it and that was the one thing going into camp he was confident I'd be comfortable with," Taggert said.

"I kicked the ground a couple of times. It was pretty daunting. You walk out on the ground and here's 100 to 150 recruiters 120 metres away from you just watching you.

"The nerves got to me."

Ready to work

If he is selected, Taggert has no intention of letting the opportunity slide.

The St Kilda supporter keeps a close eye on former Horsham player Adam Goodes, citing the Sydney Swans champion as inspiration.

"Not many people have come from Horsham who have really made a name for themselves," Taggert said. "You look at his career - two Brownlows, a premiership and 300 games. It is something you want to achieve. He's really made a name for himself.

"The first thing Geoff Burdett says to boys when they get drafted is 'the easy part is done, now is where the hard work starts'."

Taggert has spent this year working hard.

He moved to Ballarat to complete year 12, taking up an offer to attend St Patrick's College.

He had decided to leave school after year 11 and concentrate on a trade.

St Patrick's College offered him the chance to do a building school-based apprenticeship.

Taggert saw it as a chance to further his football, living down the road from the Rebels' Eureka Stadium home.

The move paid dividends ? both on and off the field.

Taggert, who also credits his older brother Zack for helping him improve his football, made the most of his second season on the Rebels' list and is all but guaranteed a building apprenticeship if he is overlooked in the AFL National Draft.

"I started pretty slowly, just through injury because I had broken ribs the first couple of weeks but as the year went on school footy started up and I gained confidence through that and it slowly carried on to the Rebels," he said.

"Having been playing for an extra year, you go in more confident because you're bigger than everyone else. It kind of gets easier that way but then the coach made me develop on my game deficiencies.

"The main one was my work rate and I really didn't get that right even by the end of the year. That is something I have always been criticised for.

"They call me laconic because I am really laid back. I have been like that all my life."