“I spoke to a lot of different clubs and they didn’t give a lot away, I guess they can’t make any promises,” Dumont told NMFC.com.au.
“I hadn’t spoken to North in a while so I really didn’t expect to go to North out of all the clubs. It was a pleasant surprise and I’m really grateful they picked me and I want to return the favour now."
Dumont and his family waited anxiously on draft night, unsure where the 18-year old would begin his AFL career. Dumont says he was only concerned about getting an opportunity.
“Getting drafted is the main thing, but it’s a bonus coming to a club that’s going places and I just want to be part of their success. My dad’s stingy so we actually didn’t even have Foxtel to watch the draft,” Dumont joked.
“Family friends of ours were nice enough to invite all of us over; we had a BBQ and just sat back and waited for my name to be called. I was just ecstatic, it’s a dream come true and to go to such a good club like North Melbourne is even better.”
Playing for Norwood this year in the SANFL as well as the Under-18 Championships for South Australia, the 186cm, 83kg youngster has developed into a well-rounded player who believes he can adapt to any position.
“I was all over the place with Norwood. I started at half-back, then I played midfield and wing, then at the end in the grand final and last few games I played half-forward and midfield. Nathan Bassett (former Norwood coach) gave me a mixture of roles to play which helped my variety a little bit. At state I played off the half-back which was a new challenge as well,” Dumont said.
“I think I’m quite versatile, I can play pretty much all positions. I enjoy playing off the half-forward flank because you get a lot of the ball and you get to kick goals and stuff so that’s obviously the exciting part of the game. I think I’m best fit in the midfield though.”
Dumont will recognise a couple of familiar faces when he and fellow draftee Ben Brown join the rest of the playing group in Utah next week.
“I went to an AIS camp with Luke (McDonald) last year around the grand final with Hawthorn. I know Mitch (Wilkins) quite well from training together at Norwood, but he played more school footy so I didn’t get to play a whole heap with him.
“Knowing a few people, hopefully they can show me around a little bit as well. I’m looking forward to getting to know the other guys as quick as possible and I’m sure that will help me with my development.”
The new Roo will only have a couple of days to celebrate his draft news before flying to Melbourne on Sunday and then making his way to the United States on Tuesday.
“It’s a pretty quick process…I can’t wait to get over there, it’s really exciting,” he said.
“Being in Utah doing altitude training will be very different for me, it’s going to be hard and a totally different kind of training but it will be a good experience.”
While there’s mixed emotions in the Dumont family with their son moving away to pursue his football, Trent knows it will all be worth it.
“They were obviously a little bit upset that I’ll have to leave home, well mostly mum...dad’s just excited that I’m going, mum’s happy but she’s sad at the same time. We’re originally from Melbourne so they don’t feel too bad about it.
“When things are getting hard you can look and see that plenty of other boys have to live interstate as well. There’s probably a lot of support there and motivation to do well and stay at the one club.”
