The 22 year old midfielder played his first game in the Cats outfit on the weekend against Collingwood affiliate, Williamstown alongside star senior players including David Wojincski.
Beattie had been in contract negotiations with Collingwood but inevitably, the Geelong offer was too good to refuse.
“It is a successful club with unbelievable facilities and its location just out of the city suits me,” Beattie said.
The former local moved from the North Coast after a couple of seasons to allow him to chase his dream of playing in the AFL.
The young left-footer has done the hard yards in making the elite level given last year he was trying to impress with Broadbeach in the Queensland AFL competition and Waratah in the Northern Territory.
Renowned in the local competition as an athletic and versatile midfielder, Beattie was rewarded with a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I thought I was a little bit past it, but with Gold Coast side coming in, a lot of mature-aged players will get drafted.”
He is currently one of 11 players in the club who aren’t AFL listed and to play with the competition front-runners he will need to be upgraded to the rookie list.
That doesn’t worry Beattie though as on average seven out of the eleven non-listed players will play VFL football each week, and given his role, he will be given time to impress.
“Geelong has unbelievable midfielders but some underdeveloped rookies, and they recruited me with the aim of adding to experience and physicality in their list,” he said.
Beattie possessed an impressive resume on the North Coast; having been Nambucca’s Best and Fairest in his first season with the club and also being a regular feature in the Interleague fixture as a representative player.
The world has turned since then for Beattie and he is looking forward to playing in the best feeder competition in the country.
“It is my last chance in many ways,” he said.
“I want to learn as much as I can, do all the extras at training and hopefully that will allow me to play at a VFL level on a regular basis.”
Last Modified on 07/03/2009 10:08