WEST Coast rookie Michael Mascoulis approached Tuesday's NAB AFL Rookie Draft with low expectations, convinced that a 14-week hamstring injury this year had all but ended his chances of joining an AFL club.

The 185cm wingman from the Northern Knights suffered a regulation hamstring tear late last year, but back-related complications with the injury saw him miss more than three months of the 2011 season, including the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships.

On Wednesday, having already arrived in Perth and completed a training session with his new club, Mascoulis said he was grateful to be given a chance by the Eagles after missing so much football.

"After the [national] draft, when I didn't hear my name get called out, I thought it might have been over," said Mascoulis, who was selected with West Coast's first pick in Tuesday's rookie draft (No.15 overall).

"I missed a big chunk of the season, so straight away I didn't really expect too much coming to the end of the year.

"I had a hamstring injury and I missed about 13-14 weeks through it.

"It was a tear and then it just wouldn't heal properly, so it just kept on taking a while to come good.

"It's just fantastic that I've been given the opportunity."

West Coast national recruiting manager Rohan O'Brien describes Mascoulis as a wingman with good skills who is, "maybe a little bit different to what we've got on our list currently".

The 18-year-old, who has modelled his game on Fremantle midfielder Stephen Hill, said he was an outside running player who liked to use his skills.

Initially star-struck having trained alongside the Eagles' big names on Wednesday, the classy left-footer said preparing himself physically was his first goal.
  
"I just really want to get my body right and just get a good pre-season in. The rest will take care of itself," he said. 

"I came over last night, so first thing this morning I started. It was good to get involved with everything.

"It was a bit weird coming to training and seeing Daniel Kerr and Dean Cox, but it's fantastic.

"I'm very thankful for everything they (the Eagles) have done and I'm going to hopefully repay them."

Nathan Schmook covers West Coast news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_NSchmook

 The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs