Seven hours before Essendon used its second of three selections on night one of the AFL National Draft on Jacob Farrow, he had lunch with former West Perth teammate Kayle Gerreyn.
The pair discussed embracing life on an AFL list to take the tension out of draft day for Western Australia's only first-round draftee.
Now, Farrow will wear the same threads as Gerreyn, who is one year his senior, following a meteoric rise throughout 2025.
“I'm very excited to play alongside him,” Farrow said.
“He's experienced it now being in the system for a year so I've been asking questions about what his first year was like especially the first few weeks moving away from home and he has always been good to talk to.”
Farrow averaged 18 disposals at both league and WAFL Colts level in 2025, adding a hard edge and explosiveness to his game, which resulted in him coming from outside the state summer squad to play an important role for an inconsistent Western Australia outfit at the U18s National Championships.
“A lot of motivation came from missing that squad,” Farrow said.
“It gave me a reason to put my head down and work even harder and I was able to do that so I was really happy.
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“I did a lot of sprint work, and got a coach which gave me a lot of confidence to take the game on, run and have a bounce, take territory and use my skills by foot.
“I felt quicker and stronger through the legs with my ability to drive out of contest.”
Essendon recruiting manager Matt Rosa indicated that he could see Farrow playing in the midfield as well as his established backline position.
“Seeing him play at West Perth, and again, he's another one that just got better as the year went on,” Rosa said.
"He brings real versatility, we think that he continues to show great power, great agility, so we think he'll be a real versatile prospect for us.
“Those little glimpses we saw of him in the midfield this year, we hope that he can continue to develop, as well as being really good quality, all user off halfback, actually.”
