There were plenty of surprised people in the room when Geelong's recruiting boss, Stephen Wells, chose Andrew Mackie with selection No. 7 in the 2002 national draft.

Mackie was seen as a very left-field choice. After all, he hadn't played in the that year's national under-18 championships and hadn't been invited to the draft camp.

Indeed, many draft experts were stunned that Wells had taken a punt on the skinny teenager based on his performances in school football with Sacred Heart College in Adelaide.

"Along with playing for Sacred Heart, Andrew had played a little bit of footy with Glenelg, both in the SANFL's under-18 competition and in the reserves," Wells recalled in an interview with geelongcats.com.au.

"But it was mainly through his performances in school footy that he piqued our interest."

Wells knew that Mackie was going to take some time to develop into a player who could hold his own in the AFL, but he was adamant that Mackie had more talent that many others eligible for the '02 draft.

"Andrew was skinny, as a lot of the young players are at that age," Wells said. "We were taking a punt on him in that he hadn't had exposure against some of the very best of the other talent in that year through the under-18 championships.

"But he'd shown us enough at school-level and in Glenelg's reserves to have us convinced there was a lot of talent there.

"In school games he was clearly one of the very, very best players. He was taking marks and kicking clever goals and getting the ball as a midfielder.

"He was a guy who we thought showed the attributes of being a good AFL player, and having not been exposed to the under-18 championships, we thought there was plenty of development left in him as well."

Wells became convinced that Mackie was worth the punt after talking to a number of people about his personality and upbringing.

"Once we found out about his character - that he was going to do the work and be very coachable - we were confident that he was going to be an AFL player."

Given how raw Mackie was when he arrived at Geelong, it was hardly a surprise that he took some time to develop into an elite player.

Still, there were times during his first few seasons at Simonds Stadium that Mackie's progress became a hot topic among Cats fans, not that Wells was fazed.

"Everyone's got their opinions about all players, whether they be the very best or guys that struggling a little bit, but I was given a lot of confidence by the fact Mark Thompson saw a lot in Andrew as well," Wells said.

"Bomber really enjoyed working with him and seeing him develop, as did the rest of the coaches back at that time, so I don't think there was much doubt internally about how Andrew was going to go.

"But we all did acknowledge that he was going to be a longer-term project."

Mackie, who made his AFL debut against the Sydney Swans in round three of the 2004 season, started his AFL career as a half-forward.

But a move to the backline proved to be the making of him.

Playing alongside the likes of Matthew Scarlett, Tom Harley, Josh Hunt, Darren Milburn, Corey Enright, David Wojcinski and Harry Taylor, he soon developed a reputation as one of the finest rebounding defenders in the game.

"He's certainly had a fantastic career as a defender," Wells said. "Andrew had some good players around him, but he also made the players around him better as well. He was a great contributor to our team and still is."

Mackie now has a footballing resume that takes some beating.

He has three premierships to his name and was a selected in the All Australian team in 2013.

But his time in the AFL hasn't all been plain sailing.

In fact, his career looked to have hit the wall when he was dropped during the Cats' 2010 finals campaign.

Since then, however, he has shown great resilience to re-establish himself among the top echelon of Geelong players.

"All players have their ups and downs and then deal with it in their own way," Wells reflected. "For Andrew to not be at his best in 2010 but then come back and be such an important player in our 2011 premiership, and to be still going strong five years later, is a real credit to him."

On Friday night, when the Cats face Fremantle at Domain Stadium, Mackie, who turns 32 next month, will tick off another milestone when he notches his 250th game.

For a bloke who was plucked out of school footy, it has been quite some journey.

"To clock up 250 games you have to be very resilient, both physically and mentally," Well said. "He's had his ups and downs, but he's always stayed very positive.

"He's a terrific fella around the club, and he's had a brilliant career. It's something he should be very proud of."