ALEXNeal-Bullen – selected by Melbourne at No.40 – says he couldn’t believe hisluck when he knew he would be joining fellow draftee and father/son pick BillyStretch at the Demons. 

Neal-Bullenand Stretch played at Glenelg in South Australia and now they are teammates atMelbourne, after the former was drafted on Thursday night on the Gold Coast.Stretch, although officially selected at No.42, was claimed back in October.

“I’ve knownStretchy for a few years now – back in our athletics days, back in under 10s,”he told melbournefc.com.au.

“I’ve playedfooty with him and spent a lot of time with him outside of footy, so we’ve beenthrough some ups and downs together.

“We get thebest out of each other … but it’s a dream come true to join up with him and Ican’t wait to meet the other boys.”

Neal-Bullensaid he had “no idea” what was going to happen entering the draft.

“I thought Icould have gone anywhere from 20 to 50 and as the night panned out, it turnedout that it was pick 40. But once my name was called out, I was over the moon.

“I pumpedand so excited – I can’t wait to get stuck into things. I can’t wait to meetthe playing group … my dream has come true and I can’t wait to join theMelbourne footy club.

“It’s justunreal and I’m so privileged to be able to be in this position.”

Neal-Bullensaid he was an inside midfielder/half-back “who loved the competitive stuff”.

“Myendurance is good around the ground and I thrive on leadership – on and off thefield,” he said.