Geelong's milestone man Tom Stewart contains a salient AFL lesson, says his coach Chris Scott.
Stewart on Friday night will play his 150th AFL match when the Cats meet Adelaide.
The milestone is the latest benchmark in Stewart's stellar, yet unusual, career at the elite level.
The brilliant backman didn't make his AFL debut until aged 24, in 2017.
And in his seven completed seasons, Stewart has been an All Australian five times, a premiership player, and a club champion twice.
"He has certainly done a good job in 150 games," Scott said ahead of the Adelaide Oval encounter with the Crows.
"It feels as if he's been around a lot longer."
He said the Stewart lesson was in his football journey.
"I don't think we should ever forget the way he came into the (AFL) system," Scott said.
"The reason he has only played 150 games is because, when he was 20, he didn't really have any designs on an AFL career.
"And he came in through the local system, through the VFL system, kind of did it the hard way.
"It's an interesting case study of a guy who at 18 or 19 probably didn't feel either the motivation or the preparation to walk on to an AFL list.
"But when he was just that little bit more mature and ready, he was able to come and have an impact right away.
"It is an interesting case study. They (recruits) all don't have to be straight out of Year 11."
Stewart played for the Geelong Falcons in the Victorian under-18 competition, then South Barwon in the Geelong Football Netball League.
At the 2016 AFL draft, the Cats used pick 40 to select Stewart.
Scott said while Geelong's long-time list manager Stephen Wells liked to take the credit, the Cats' triple premiership defender Matthew Scarlett also played a key role.
"I would go back as far as Matty Scarlett having a little bit to do with him at local level - and I remember my reaction when he said this guy could play AFL footy now," Scott said.
"Again, it's a reminder that there are some good players out there if you look hard enough.
"It might be just under-rating Stewie's natural talent a little bit - it's not as if he's a scrapper who has just worked his way into it.
"He has got some rare attributes, not just physical attributes, but just the feel for the game and intangibles that are hard to coach.
"But I think as a general rule, if you don't get drafted in the first opportunity, there's a bit more of a willingness now to try to pick guys up.
"And if you can do that, they tend to be really good value because it's unlikely you're going to have to use the first (draft) pick on them."
