ODDLY enough for Brisbane Lions draftee Aaron Cornelius, football wasn’t the main cause of nervousness on the biggest day of his career to date.

In what may rank as one of the more unusual draft day happenings, Cornelius helped mark his selection as the No.57 pick of the draft by attending a dance performance featuring his younger sister.

“My sister is into the performing arts and by 1.30pm or so I was watching her at a dancing contest,” Cornelius laughed.

“It’s kind of funny. My sister had to perform a solo and I got really nervous for her.

“I reckon I was probably more nervous about her dancing than I was about whether I would get drafted or not.

“My mum got to the performance before I did and she had been telling people I’d been drafted. One lady got me to pose for a photo with her son, which was new for me.”

Not that the likeable lad from Hobart didn’t have a couple of nervous moments of his own on Saturday.

One came when he received a phone call from a footballing hero, keen to congratulate him on becoming a Lion.

“If anyone ever asked me who my mentor was, the footballer I like to watch and learn from, then I always say Jonathan Brown,” Cornelius said.

“He actually called me after I got drafted. I answered the phone and when he said who it was, I sort of had to clear my head and work out what was going on.

“He gave me his congratulations on getting drafted and I can’t wait to get to Brisbane and start learning from him.”

A 192cm forward with strong marking skills, Cornelius intends to bulk up from his current 84kg weight in his first year at the Gabba.

Although he comes from a close family in a state that is a long way from the hustle and bustle of south east Queensland, he expects to settle in well to life in Brisbane.

“One of the things with being from Tassie is that you know you are going to have to move away if you want to play AFL football,” he said.

“So once it looked like I might get drafted, I probably started preparing myself for that. I’ve always liked visiting places like Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with state teams.

“One of the things I’ve noticed from playing in the VFL (for Tasmania) is how much of a step up it was from junior footy. I know AFL is going to be another thing again and if I could crack it just to play one game in my first year I’d be really happy.”