The North Ballarat junior joins his Greater Western Victoria Rebels teammate Aaron Cadman as part of the 2022 draft class.

Van Es caught the eyes of club recruiters as a key defender for the Rebels this NAB League under-19 season.

He led the league with eight intercept possessions per game and earned Vic Country honours in the National Under-19 Championships.

Van Es will line up alongside former North Ballarat and Sebastopol ruckman Rowan Marshall, who has been a helping hand to Van Es throughout his journey to the AFL.

The 197-centimetre defender said Marshall had been talking him through all things football this year as he prepares for the jump up to professional AFL football.

"It's so crazy. Tonight has been an emotional rollercoaster. I was just screaming and the next minute I was crying," Van Es said.

"The family were just so pumped. Mum and Dad are over the moon and all of my mates here (at home) are so happy for me."

The St Patrick's College graduate was one of the top key defenders in this year's draft pool following eye-catching results at the National Combine.

Van Es topped the charts for both the vertical jump (75cm) and running vertical jump (98cm) as well as a fourth-best time of 2.91 seconds in the 20-metre sprint.

His athletic ability was a stand out for Rebels coach David Loader.

"James' ability to run and jump at his height is so rare. He is a pretty impressive package when you look at it all together," Loader said.

"He's obviously going to develop and grow over the next few years but he's already big, he's already strong and he's already got so many things in his arsenal that he's going to be able to use going forward."

He averaged 11.9 disposals, 4.1 marks and 4.2 rebound 50s across 13 games for the Rebels.

Van Es joins former Rebels products Dan Butler, Brad Crouch and Seb Ross at the Saints.