The Eastlake star was left speechless after the Giants matched a bid from the Adelaide Crows in the new draft format, elevating Himmelberg to pick No. 16 on Tuesday night.

Himmelberg was just settling into his spot on the couch in Brisbane with his parents when Carlton took Jacob Weitering with the first overall pick.

Less than an hour later he was stunned when Adelaide put in a bid for the forward and the Giants countered to make Himmelberg one of the highest ever draft pick from Canberra.

It means Himmelberg will go from working in retail selling suits and as a cabinet maker in the capital to a guaranteed AFL deal.

"I had no idea it was going to go like this, it's awesome," Himmelberg said.

"I wasn't expecting to hear my name until so much later than that. I can't describe it, it's awesome. It's much higher than I thought I was going to go and my family's in shock as well.

"I'd spoken a fair bit to Adelaide so I knew they were keen on me. But I was thinking they'd go with the later pick. Then they got up and the new system adds an element of excitement for everyone, it's pretty exciting."

Himmelberg's phone started buzzing as soon the announcement was made and GWS head of development Brett Hand called to tell him he was making the leap to the AFL.

The 19-year-old, who is originally from Wagga Wagga, thought his AFL prospects took a major hit last year when he broke his jaw.

But he made the move to Canberra to join Eastlake and enhanced his credentials with a best on ground display at the MCG in a curtain-raiser on AFL grand final day.

The 194 centimetre forward went to the draft combine and had 16 interviews with prospective clubs, but he said he had no idea if he would get a chance to realise his AFL dream.

"It's hard to get a gauge if clubs are interested in you. I could have gone anywhere," he said.

"I've shown a lot of improvement this year, I'm pretty keen to step it up to the AFL level and give it a crack.

"At the start of the year I was doing some labouring work and then moved into retail selling suits ... it's crazy to think next year I'll be in the AFL."

Former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson said: "He's a great runner around the field, but I'm surprised to see him go so early. That's going to cost GWS a lot of points."

The new draft system allocates points to different picks. The Giants lost picks 48, 50, 53 and 59 to match the offer from Adelaide, but gained picks 16, 61, 64 and 71.

Himmelberg joins Belconnen junior Jack Steele at the Giants, who was taken with pick No. 24 last year.

Himmelberg said he was "super stoked" to have an AFL contract.

"It's been one of my dreams ever since I started playing footy. It's going to take a while for it to sink in, but it's a reality now," Himmelberg said.

"A lot of things had to go right and they did, I'm pretty thankful for that. Getting to play NEAFL [with Eastlake] gave me that exposure to a high level of footy."

Weitering became the first key defender since 1993 to be taken with the No. 1 pick while Josh Schache (Brisbane) and Callum Mills (Sydney) rounded out the top three.

The Giants took Jacob Hooper with their No. 7 pick before swooping on Matthew Kennedy and Himmelberg.