Griffith's Harry Rowston is heading to Greater Western Sydney after being selected by the Giants at pick 16

Rowston was selected at pick 16 in round one of the AFL Draft on Monday night with the Giants matching a bid from the Sydney Swans.

Tied in with the Giants through their academy, Rowston was thrilled to be heading to GWS next year.

"It's absolutely surreal," Rowston said.

"I couldn't be happier."

Rowston admitted that he had yet to hear from the Giants, with the first that he knew that he was selected was when his name popped up on the screen during the telecast.

"I haven't got any phone calls or anything," he said.

"The first time I found out was when my name popped up on the screen.

"At the start I was just confused, I saw my name pop up on the screen and it took a while to process what was actually happening."

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Most of the discussion in the lead-up to the draft had Rowston selected early in the second-round with his first-round selection even shocking him.

"I thought I wasn't going to go until at least in the 20's to 30's, so to go this early is absolutely surreal," he said.

"Obviously it's nice just to see that the hard work has paid off a bit and the good footy that I've played this year has helped me to go this early and it's a nice reward."

The son of Phil and Kirsty Rowston, Harry grew up on the family farm in Binya with him so thankful for his parents who have supported his football journey every step of the way.

"I was saying to my family that it shows the hard work they've put in to driving me to footy every week has paid off," he said.

"Now I've finally got the opportunity to play AFL."

A proud Griffith Swans junior, Rowston is looking forward to representing the town on the big stage.

"Obviously it shows that people from Griffith can make it," he said.

"People from Griffith are just as good at sport as anybody else and to be a name from Griffith to make it is very exciting."

Phil spent a couple of years on the Swans list in the 90's and for a few brief moments it looked like Rowston would be joining the same club as his father.

"I thought for a little bit there I might end up at the same club as him," he said.

"Dad was actually on the tractor at the time and he wasn't even at home."

Dreaming of playing AFL, Rowston was still in a bit of disbelief but thought that it would sink in over the next day or two.

"It's very exciting," he said.

"It's something that I've been dreaming of my whole life.

"For it to finally be real is quite surreal and I'm sure it will start to sink in the next couple of days."

While Griffith had planned to have a big gathering Tuesday night to mark the occasion, Rowston was just watching the telecast at home.

"I've got a few mates down from school and I was watching it with them," he said.

"Mum was home, but dad and the brother were on the header and tractor, so none of them were actually home."

Rowston has a very impressive resume from this season that included being named in the U18 All-Australian team, Allies MVP from the National Championships as well as being named as the Giants Academy Player of the Year.

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