AWAY from the activity of the AFL Trade Period, Melbourne recruit Braydon Preuss is already relishing his opportunity.

The ruckman, who was some 13,000km from the action in the United States, became a Demon on Friday morning, following a deal that saw midfielder Dom Tyson depart for North Melbourne.

Despite the distance, the 23-year-old’s excitement of joining the red and blue was aplenty.

“It feels pretty cool,” Preuss told Melbourne Media.

“I’m in Utah on a training camp at the moment, and there’s not much chatter around here, but it’s pretty awesome.”

At 206cm tall and able to play both in the ruck and as a forward, Preuss is set to add to the Demons’ versatility.

With the prospect of joining All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn a drawcard too prominent to ignore, Queensland-born Preuss is ready to give it his all.

“I’m really looking forward to playing and learning under Maxy – he’s the best in the business,” he said.

“I think our styles are pretty similar, so hopefully I can get to his level and we can play a few games together.”

Playing eight AFL matches in 2017, Preuss had a dominant 2018 season in North Melbourne’s VFL team, putting on performances that caught the eye of the red and blue.

General Manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said the club was looking forward to watching his talent develop further. 

“We think he’s got a mature AFL body,” Mahoney told media outside AFL House.

“We needed a backup ruckman and Braydon Preuss has shown, at the VFL level, that he can play that [role].”

“Taking a bit of load off Max Gawn, we think it’s a great opportunity for us.”

And with Gawn already a Preuss fan, the duo is set to thrive off each other in 2019 and beyond.

“He (Braydon) sees that being under him (Max) is a great opportunity for him, as he’s still got a lot of growth in his ruck craft,” Mahoney said.

“Max is really excited by it. He gets to train against a big body at training and gets to compete, and he thinks he’ll get better out of it as well.”

The deal also saw Melbourne claim pick No.62 of the upcoming AFL Draft.