Essendon draftee Brayden Ham says he “couldn’t be happier” to don the sash after a nerve-wracking wait at his Torquay home on draft day.

Taken with the Bombers’ final selection (72 overall) after a near three-hour wait on Friday, the 19-year-old admitted he’d nearly given up on his draft hopes. 

“I was at home with the immediate family and a couple of mates as well. I wasn’t really sure what the result was going to be,” Ham said. 

“There were other clubs I was talking to who had picks in the sixties. When it came to those picks in the seventies, I was thinking whether or not clubs would pass. I just thought, if it (getting drafted) wasn’t to be, it wasn’t to be.

“Then we saw Essendon had a pick and once it (TV) read ‘pick is in’ and they were actually taking someone, the mood lifted. We had a feeling it would come to Essendon. Once my name got read out, I was just over the moon. The house went pretty nuts.”

The Geelong Falcons product is indeed no stranger to waiting. 

A late bloomer, Ham starred for the Falcons as a top-ager in this year’s TAC Cup, booting 22 goals from 16 games to finish a runner-up behind No.1 draft pick Sam Walsh in the club’s best and fairest. 

Watch Brayden Ham's highlights

The agile midfielder-forward continued to impress recruiters at October’s draft combine, recording elite results in the sprint and endurance tests. 

He said he’d reaped the rewards of a strong focus on footy in 2018.

Brayden Ham in action for the Geelong Falcons during this year's TAC Cup elimination final. (Photo: AFL Media)

“It’s been a low-key year. I started at university (studying sports science) at the start but didn’t think it was really for me,” Ham said. 

“I went into work a little bit too – just a couple of times a week at a warehouse.

“I knew I had to do something and focus on footy as well. I had the best opportunity available at the TAC Cup as a 19-year-old. I knew I just had to give it absolutely everything.”