An athletic medium-sized forward renowned for his nous around the sticks, Sestan’s talent was not even identified by his local NAB League program Oakleigh Chargers, who passed on selecting him for the 2022 under-18 season.
But as they often say when one door closes another opens, and for Sestan missing out on the NAB League allowed him the chance to take his game to the country, donning the Mansfield jumper in six under-18 games in 2022.
For the Melbourne boy, travelling to the Goulburn Valley was a chance for him to have fun playing footy alongside some of his best mates.
And as it turned out his experiences playing in the country proved invaluable, with the lessons he learned at the Eagles proving pivotal to the development that had him scooped up by Melbourne with pick 28 in the rookie draft.
“It (coming up to Mansfield) helped a lot in my development this year, being able to have fun playing with my mates in the 18s and training with the seniors I got so much out of it,” Sestan said.
“I learned a lot from the older boys like Brett Mahoney, they showed me the best way to go about things and that really helped with my footy.
“Travelling up to Mansfield also allowed me to just take my mind off things and just enjoy playing footy, which in the end helped me put together the performances I needed to get noticed.”
When it came to his time in blue and gold, one day at Tatura Park will always stand out.
In the last game of the GVL home and away season, Sestan produced a performance rarely seen at any level of football, as he booted 24 goals in a 247-point rout of the Bulldogs.
He described what he always refers to as “one hell of a day out’’.
“Going into it I knew Tatura weren’t going to be too great looking at the ladder position, but I wasn’t expecting anything like that,” he said.
“It was a very weird game and unlike any I’d played in before, it all just kind of worked for me and to finish with 24 it was pretty funny I guess.
“It was one hell of a day out and although no recruiters would have seen it I got a fair bit of confidence out of it.”
While he thought he was a fair way off the draft radar during the season, his performances for Mansfield and his school Xavier College had him garner some AFL interest.
Sestan explained the lead-up to the draft and how the Demons emerged as a potential landing spot late in the piece.
“The lead-up was a bit of a blur, I met with Melbourne last week, but before that I hadn’t talked to them at all throughout the year,” he said.
“From chats with my manager I thought it was potentially a chance, but I wanted to keep it pretty low key and didn’t want to think about the whole draft process too much.”
But from that one meeting, the Demons liked what they saw and decided the 18-year-old was worth a punt.
Watching the rookie draft unfold with his family, Sestan said it was a special moment when his name was read out.
“It came as a bit of a shock to be honest,” he said.
“I was just over the moon when I saw my name come up on the screen and I just tried to get around my friends and family as much as I could.
“Coming as such a surprise it made the moment all the more special and now I cannot wait to get stuck in.”
