Collingwood draftee Jaidyn Stephenson is determined to repay the Magpies' faith for selecting him at No.6.
Clubs were alerted to an irregularity with Stephenson's heart in early October, throwing a cloud over where he would fall in the draft.
But the Magpies had no such concerns for the smooth Eastern Ranges midfielder, who had a brilliant 2017.
The young midfielder revealed he knew about the condition since he was 16 years old but said the irregularity was not severe enough to cause him any serious worry.
Stephenson was tipped to go anywhere from the top-five all the way down towards the end of the first round.
He zoomed onto recruiters' radars during the under-18 national championships with a five-goal haul against South Australia and was again brilliant in the Grand Final curtain-raiser with three goals.
Stephenson is quick – running a 2.95sec 20m sprint – has great skills by hand and foot and is a prolific goalkicker.
"The heart issue actually came up when I was 16. They (doctors) knew about it but I'm not really in a diagnosable area for the disease, or whatever it is. So they said 'you can play, no worries'," Stephenson said.
"My sister also plays a high standard of sport and she was borderline as well.
"I'm on some medication so I've just got to make sure I take that but also be careful about what I put in my own body, which could affect the condition. It certainly doesn't affect my performance in any way."
Collingwood was the club that spoke to him the most before the draft and Stephenson revealed doubts about whether he might slip down the order.
"I thought with the heart thing we might scare clubs off but I was pretty confident that even if I was at pick No.30 or 40 or 50, someone would have taken me and given me an opportunity, and I would've paid it back," he said.
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