Jack was a star for Vic Metro, twice being named in the All-Australian team, his sublime skills and goalkicking ability setting him apart from most. Billy was an integral part of Vic Country, his work rate impressing everyone who watched him. He was named alongside Jack in the All-Australian team last year. They both presented brilliantly at the draft camp. Billy smashed the beep-test record, held previously by Josh Hill of Hawthorn, and his extremely confident nature was on display for all to see. Jack confirmed what everyone already knew: that he was an outstanding young man to go along with his sublime footballing ability. That they would be drafted to an AFL club was beyond dispute. The only question was, where would they go, and at what number. Last Saturday, the two youngsters prepared to do battle against each other once again. This time it was to be at AFL level, on the mighty MCG. Jack Billings was lining up for his fourth senior game. Billy Hartung was set to make his debut. What had been their destiny from as long as they could kick a football was unfolding on a wet and cold Saturday afternoon in early May 2014.

What transpired in the next two hours provided the starkest insight into how a young man's destiny may be defined by the vagaries of what’s known as the AFL national draft. Billings was taken at selection three by St Kilda, a club that had lingered around the premiership window for a long period, but was most definitely in the process of regenerating a once-formidable list. As Jack arrived at the Saints, Nick Dal Santo and Ben McEvoy joined Brendon Goddard in moving on to new homes. Warriors Stephen Milne, Jason Blake and Justin Koschitzke retired, Scotty Watters had been sacked and replaced by Alan Richardson and there were some ‘'settling-in'' issues still to be resolved around their new training base at Seaford. That Richardson and his team have been competitive early in the season has defied the critics, who had almost anointed them as the wooden spooner. Amid all of this, Billings made his debut and immediately confirmed that the fuss about him at junior level was justified. Saints supporters always take solace in the fact that Nick Riewoldt will always give them something to cheer about, regardless of the result. In Billings, they could see his successor.

Meanwhile, his little mate Hartung was settling in to his new home at Waverley, having been taken at pick 24 by reigning premier Hawthorn. A football side that continues to be in and around the premiership window. They rejuvenate differently at Hawthorn. In recent years the Hawks have added Josh Gibson, David Hale, Jack Gunston, Shaun Burgoyne, Brian Lake and Ben McEvoy to their list, and they've done the best they could with whatever draft pick they were left with. Alastair Clarkson was about to take control of his 10th pre-season campaign, the membership and sponsorship was flying, the Hawks have two ‘'homes'’, both in Melbourne and in Tasmania, that are thriving, and while they lost Buddy Franklin, no one appeared overly concerned. Hawk supporters always take solace in the fact that if Cyril Rioli, Sam Mitchell, Grant Birchall or Jarryd Roughead don’t give them something to cheer about then Luke Hodge, Luke Breust, Isaac Smith or Jordan Lewis will. Billy Hartung didn't need to worry about being any kind of successor. He just needed to find a way to break into this side and somehow get a game.

And he did last week, against Jack and his Saints. Billy was the sub, Jack was St Kilda’s second most skilful, dangerous and important forward, behind Riewoldt. Billy got his chance half way through the first quarter, when Sam Mitchell did his hamstring. By that stage, the Hawks had kicked the first five goals of the game and the result was not in doubt. All Billy had to worry about was listening to his coach and playing to instructions. He went into the midfield but he wasn’t going to attract the attention of Tom Curren, who was set for the job on Mitchell. The Saints' attention would turn to Hodge or Burgoyne or Lewis or Smith or Hill. Jack had more on his plate. The ball rarely entered the Saints' forward line. In fact, 20 minutes into the second quarter, the Saints had registered one possession in their forward half for the quarter. As Jack attempted to contend with Matthew Suckling or Birchall as his opponent, along with trying under enormous pressure to gather hacked balls out of defence, Billy ran around and started to gather a few possessions.

Immediately after half-time Billings kicked the Saints' third goal of the game. He is a class above 20 of his teammates, but the task is overwhelming. Hawthorn kicked the next 15 goals. Jack could do nothing but watch on helplessly from the wasteland of the Saints' forward line. On the rare occasion that the Saints went forward, he would inevitably read it quicker than anyone else and make perfect position. Only to see the ball fumbled by a teammate, given to the wrong option, or kicked at his feet, or over his head. Meanwhile, Billy was having the time of his life. This AFL caper was something else. It quickly dawned on him, that if he ran, and boy could he run, he would get the footy. Lewis and Hodge rarely lost one on ones, so Billy ran, and the ball appeared perfectly on his chest. Suckling and Birchall and Gibson rarely missed a target by foot, so Billy ran, and they hit him on the chest, lace out. And if Billy ever ran into trouble, there was always a brown-and-gold teammate there to help him out. Things could not have been going better for Billy. When your team is ahead by 90 points, you can afford to play with a freedom of mind that is foreign to those in poorer teams. Particularly those who have played just a handful of games. So, Billy pushed forward. He took a bit of a punt that Lewis and Breust and Paul Puopolo would contest ferociously, and he got on the end of it and kicked his first goal in AFL football, to put the Hawks 96 points ahead.

As every single Hawthorn player ran to him and celebrated, as if they had just won back-to-back premierships, I looked to the other end of the ground and, as the rain continued to fall, wondered what was going through the mind of Jack Billings. And when the siren sounded, Hawthorn was 145 points ahead of St Kilda. Billy had played three and a half quarters of football and amassed 26 possessions, taken seven marks, laid three tackles and kicked a goal. If life had been any better for him at that point in his 18 years on this planet, then I'd like to know when. His professional sporting career was linked to the most outstanding football club, a club led by an abundance of stars who can't help but make you look better as a footballer. The next week could not come quick enough, the Sunday papers couldn’t arrive early enough. He would have been relishing the chance to relive the moment over and over again with his family and friends. I thought Billings was fantastic. He never stopped trying and at times he elevated the game to the level of, well, Hawthorn. But as he wandered from the field he could only dream of what it would be like to slot into a side such as the one that had just slaughtered his side. He will, soon enough, be a primary target of opposition clubs' negating tactics, and maybe after just four games of AFL football he'll never again enjoy the sort of freedom that Billy did on the weekend. Both Billings and Hartung are set for long and exciting careers. But both are faced with different, immediate challenges.

Getting into the side, for Jack, is not going to be an issue. It’s the level of success and the standards of the players around him that will make an impact on his early development - and how often he experiences the enjoyment that comes with winning. Getting into the side, for Billy, is going to be a lot harder. But if he can stay there, the level of success and the standard of players around him will fast-track his development and fuel his level of enjoyment immensely. All because of which club calls your name out at the draft table.