THERE will be no shortage of support for Tom Cole when he makes his AFL debut for the West Coast Eagles on Sunday.

Former Strathfieldsaye, Sandhurst and Bendigo Pioneer player Cole will play his first game for the Eagles against the Gold Coast Suns at Perth’s Domain Stadium.

Among the crowd for the 4.40pm clash will be Cole’s parents, Russell and Donna, one of his sisters, Darcey, girlfriend Lily Burke, aunty Cherie Enrico, cousin John Enrico, and close mates Isaac Miller and Jack Exell, who are all making the trip west.

“It has been a long road for him to get here… he never had a job, it was always just footy and basketball for him,” dad Russell said at the family’s Junortoun home on Thursday night.

“He’s always worked hard for it, so it’s fantastic he has got the opportunity on Sunday.”

Cole alerted his family of his selection on Thursday afternoon via a short text message.

“He’s a man of few words, all he wrote was ‘I’m debuting this weekend’, that was it,” mum Donna said.

Cole’s debut comes on the back of him being an emergency for the Eagles regularly since round two, with there having previously been two near misses as far as playing his first game.

Cole – who turns 19 on Saturday – was an emergency for the first time against Hawthorn in round two at the MCG, but was strapped and ready to play after Luke Shuey rolled an ankle in the warm-up, only to be told as the opening siren sounded that Shuey would still take his place in the team.

And last week Cole looked set to debut against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval – he had even been congratulated by coach Adam Simpson – when full-forward Josh Kennedy didn’t travel with the team to stay with his heavily pregnant wife.

However, former Catholic College Bendigo student Cole again lucked out, with Kennedy ending up playing for the Eagles and booting seven goals, but it’s all systems go this Sunday, with Cole named in a back pocket.

“I’m super proud of him. He has worked so hard for this and just been so single-minded about what he wants to do,” Donna said.

“He has put his head down, bum up, since he got over there, which we knew he would because he’s that kind of kid. He loves to train and we just can’t wait to see him run out on Sunday.”

Cole was picked by the West Coast Eagles with selection No.36 in last November’s National Draft.

Cole moved to Bendigo from Warrnambool as an 11-year-old and played two years of junior football with St Francis of the Fields, where he went to school, before joining Strathfieldsaye, and then crossing to Sandhurst in 2014, which included playing in the Dragons’ Bendigo Football League senior grand final team that year that was beaten by the Storm.

He will become the 58th former Sandhurst player to play VFL/AFL, and the second member of the Dragons’ 2014 grand final side to do so, with Billy Evans having played seven games for the Brisbane Lions.

His Bendigo Pioneers coach of last year, Brett Henderson, is confident Cole will equip himself well in his debut game against the Suns.

“It’s really exciting and we’re all obviously really proud of him at the Pioneers,” Henderson said.

“His form for East Perth since round one has been tremendous and to be able to break into that West Cast side is an amazing effort.

“He has got all the traits of being a really good AFL footballer… the body size, he’s composed with the ball, a good decision-maker and just has a great attitude towards the game. He certainly ticks all the boxes.

“Hopefully, he can consolidate his spot and get a really good run at it.”

Cole recently signed a contract extension with the Eagles until 2019.