AFL Draft Pick Me: Christian Petracca has AFL-ready body and is set to be the No.1 draft pick Sam Landsberger looks at Eastern Rangers half forward Christian Petracca's possibilities for the 2014 AFL draft. Christian Petracca is set to be the No.1 draft pick. IT was the day AFL recruiters from every club wandered into Visy Park for a final glimpse at last year's draft class - but Christian Petracca had other ideas. The expected No.1 pick's preliminary final 439 days out from his draft is rated as one of the special bottom-age performances. With teammate Tom Boyd injured, the 186cm Petracca walked off with a stats sheet reading nine contested marks, 23 disposals, five goals, five behinds and 210 SuperCoach points as Eastern Ranges won through to the grand final. The explosive forward bullied his senior Geelong defenders physically and verbally, took high marks, shredded tackles and was creating - if not kicking - goals. "I haven't seen too many individual performances better than that at under-18 level," one recruiter said. Christian Petracca in action for Vic Metro. But the show-stopping effort was nothing out of the ordinary for the AFL-ready Petracca. It comes back to my basketball. I'm sort of a kid who can control pressure and take it in," he said. Being a point guard you're basically a coach on the field. The pressure is on you and you're expected to make big plays and it's come from there. Petracca made the under-17 Australian squad with the NBA's No.5 pick Dante Exum and LSU-commit Ben Simmons, but turned down US College scholarships for footy two years ago, helping him boost his fitness and blossom into a midfielder this year. Petracca - who combines Dustin Martin's power with Ollie Wines" strength - has already told the Saints he won't let them down should they crown him the No.1 pick on Thursday. Christian Petracca at his Warrandyte home with his dog Jax. And after they rejected Greater Western Sydney's offer of selections four and seven for Petracca, he appears set to arrive at Seaford where he will know one face. "I'd know the coach (Alan Richardson) which is pretty funny," he said. The Petraccas - of Italian heritage - and Richardsons are family friends through Christian's mum Elvira and Alan's wife Jo. But while the Saints coach hasn't had any input on Petracca's footy, Jordan Lewis has. After spending a week at Hawthorn training early this year - where he boxed Ben McEvoy - Petracca exchanged numbers with Lewis and has picked his brain regularly since. Christian Petracca starred for Eastern Ranges this season. The bubbly and at times impatient character exited the TAC Cup with an average of 21 disposals, 129 SuperCoach points and 63 goals from 29 games. The All-Australian - who worked Grand Final day at the MCG making coffees - was named this year's best player on the national stage, joining Tom Hawkins, Harley Bennell and Marc Murphy as Larke Medallists. It capped Petracca's transformation from dangerous forward to dynamite on-baller as he edged full-forward Paddy McCartin as the likely top pick, despite St Kilda's desire for a Nick Riewoldt replacement. I didn't want to be pigeonholed as a forward .... So my challenge was to get my weight down and skinfolds down and mentally really want it," Petracca, who wanted to test himself in the VFL this year, said. Petracca sent Wines a direct Instagram message in September, asking for draft combine advice and for his beep test and 3km times. Christian Petracca gets a handpass away against Western Australia. "I wanted to beat him," Petracca said. Wines clocked 14.3 in the beep, while Petracca finished with a personal-best 14.12 - the 11th best time overall - but didn't complete the 3km run as his hip problems flared. Recruiters love Petracca's ability to translate his confident personality to the footy field but he says he matured after advice from last year's No.1 pick Boyd. You could say I sort of was arrogant last year, but I definitely feel as though I've become more mature about it and definitely become a lot more modest. I'm able to play multiple positions and it might sound arrogant, but I sort of do have a bit of X-factor, I can kick those clutch goals. He's an incredible talent, he's worked pretty hard to get his fitness up and has reaped the rewards. Being a bigger body as well he's been able to dominate the competition with his size and explosiveness. "He's someone you look at and go, "How did he do that?" He's bloody hard at it, he's a big fella and he just does everything he can to get his team to win. He's so strong, once it's in his hands you can't tackle him, let alone get him to ground. He plays in the midfield and then he can go and play as a tall forward and probably jump at the same height as Peter Wright. TOUK MILLER (Vic Metro captain) Petracca is a star. He mixes power, speed, leap and marking. I think he's a mid-forward (and) he'll be an impact player used in short spells onball. CLUB: Eastern Ranges PLAYS LIKE: Dustin Martin/Ollie Wines IN THE MIX: St Kilda (1), Melbourne (2)