For all the elation that swells when a player is plucked from obscurity, there is equally as much disappointment for those with glowing football resumes who are overlooked.

There are the rare few who are afforded the luxury of knowing they'll be drafted, and the even smaller group which knows what club will take them.

For the rest it's a waiting game. A long, stressful waiting game.

This year Portland teenagers Rowan Marshall and Tom Templeton found themselves among hundreds of other hopefuls playing this game.

Neither considered themselves contenders for the national draft. It was the rookie equivalent where their best hopes lay.

But the second-chance draft came and went without their names popping up on their computer screens.

Now the waiting game starts again.

The pair, who had standout seasons for North Ballarat Rebels, only have to look at the AFL's ever-growing list of mature-age recruits to know the dream is alive.

Bendigo Gold's Tyrone Downie, a 26-year-old forward, landed at Gold Coast via Thursday's rookie draft, following the likes of Geelong premiership forward James Podsiadly, Fremantle ball magnet Michael Barlow and South Warrnambool's own Sam Dwyer, now plying his trade at Collingwood after eight VFL seasons, as feel-good stories.

Marshall is a ruckman. He's raw and lean but undoubtedly talented.

AFL clubs like their rucks to be ready-made these days and this should spur him on as he trains with VFL club North Ballarat Roosters this pre-season.

Templeton is a line-breaking midfielder with an elite left-foot kick. He could spend another season at TAC Cup level as a 19-year-old.

This has proven a successful path - it's how South Warrnambool's Louis Herbert arrived at Gold Coast - and one which would give the Wangoom teenager confidence he too can make the elite level.

For now they wait. Wait and train. Wait and play. Wait and hope.