By Dan Turner's own admission, it's been a 'crazy' couple of months.
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It was only as recently as June that Turner was playing for the Murray Bushrangers and Albury and was half-way through a plumbing apprenticeship with his boss Joel Mackie.
Fast forward to now and Turner is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Max Gawn after being selected by Melbourne in the mid-season draft.
The lucky teenager is living his dream and has spent the past month in Perth and training with the Demons on a daily basis.
Turner said his head is still spinning.
"It's still all crazy," Turner said.
"I was only thinking about it the other day and at the start of the year I never dreamt that I would be in this position.
"It's all still surreal to be honest and I'm just trying to take it all in.
"I'm only four months into my career but I have loved every minute of it so far."
ALSO IN SPORT
Since joining Melbourne mid-season, Turner played four matches for Casey Demons before the VFL season ended prematurely in late July due to COVID.
Turner said he had found it to be a smooth transition into living the life of an AFL footballer.
"I feel like I have fitted in really well and have built a lot of connections with most of the boys already," he said.
"All the players and coaches have made me feel welcome and I couldn't have asked for anything more.
"My older brother, Joel, was good mates with Charlie Spargo growing up so I knew him pretty well and he has been great since I arrived.
"Charlie had a minor hiccup when he jarred his ankle in a tackle at training on Saturday night but he will be right to go in the decider."
The Demons have been allowed to train at Optus Stadium in Perth in the lead-up to the grand final.
Turner said he was in awe of the stadium and how the surface even trumped the Albury sportsground.
"Probably the best way to describe Optus Stadium is a modern day MCG but obviously not as big," he said.
"It's unreal to train on and while Albury sportsground has got an amazing deck, the surface at Optus Stadium has even more cushion, which is hard to believe."
Turner said the build up since the Demons crushed Geelong by 83-points in the preliminary final had been 'unreal.'
"The vibe around training and the resort where we are staying has been unreal," he said.
"I'm pinching myself to be involved with it all.
"This will be my first grand final and I'm keen to watch the boys strut their stuff.
"Internally everybody's confident of getting the job done. They have performed all year and deserve their chance."
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