Freeman will be officially drafted to the Lions with the Club’s fourth round selection (currently No.59 overall) at next month’s AFL National Draft.
The 19-year-old Sunshine Coast product told Dom Fay and Michael Whiting during Wednesday’s Fancast that being overlooked in last year’s Draft was the wake-up call he needed.
“Last year was pretty tough. I had a few setbacks in terms of form and injury and probably didn’t have the right work ethic on the training track,” Freeman said.
“It opened my eyes to what it takes to make it at the elite level, so I gave it 100% this year.
“This year a big focus for me was improving my aggression at the contest, because you have to be a bit of a monster (as a key forward) and really stamp your authority on the game.
“That’s something I used to struggle with, but I worked on that closely with ex-player Tim Notting.”
The hard work certainly paid off for Freeman, who produced a couple of outstanding performances during the 2013 U18 Championships to catch the eye of potential recruiters.
“We played two Division One games first up, and I wanted to put in a big performance because I knew that was the big stage,” Freeman said.
“The first game was at Yeronga against VIC Metro and I thought I had a pretty solid game – kicked three goals and took a few nice marks, but probably my best game of the championships was against South Australia.”
In a pretty heavy defeat against the Croweaters, Freeman had 17 disposals, took eight marks (five contested), sent the ball inside 50m five times, and kicked a goal.
It’s little wonder Adelaide - who would have watched the match closely - bid their first selection at the 2013 AFL National Draft for the 198cm power forward.
Freeman is now counting down the days till the start of pre-season, and was even more buoyed to hear that childhood idol Jonathan Brown will be lining up beside him.
“I think (playing and training alongside Brown) will fast-track my development as a key forward and I can learn the tricks of the trade from him,” Freeman said.
“He’s got the same name, and we play the same position – it’s pretty unreal that I get to learn from him.”
