Click here to watch Alan Didak's press conference on YouTube.

OF THE top 10 players drafted in 2000, only one is a premiership player. His name is Alan Didak.

Chosen at number three in that draft as a 17-year-old (after St Kilda's Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke) Didak has now played in four Grand Finals for one premiership, has a club best and fairest and two All Australian jumpers. 

The first game of his seventh finals series will be his 200th.

"It's gone quick," said Didak.

It's hard to believe it is eight years to the day since Didak - aged just 20 - kicked the famous sealer from the boundary line late in the 2003 Qualifying Final against the all-conquering Brisbane Lions.

That was when he signalled a penchant for doing the improbable, when improbable was needed. Still, at the end of that season, some people - but not his coach or those who knew him best - thought Didak should have been traded for Nick Stevens, a proposal that seems laughable now.

"He was always a really good bloke," said his friend and teammate Ben Johnson. "He always got along with everyone and he played in two Grand Finals and he developed from there into a superstar."

In 2010 alone Didak provided the sort of highlights that stick in supporter's memories forever, goals that drag world-weary bums from their seats and involuntarily push hands skywards in praise.

There were three in a minute against the Eagles, the dummy and shimmy against Richmond, a banana from the pocket late in the qualifying final after turning the Bulldogs' Tim Callan inside out and a first-quarter miracle set shot in the drawn Grand Final.

To top it off he provided the second-best smother of the Grand Final replay when he raised an arm under the effects of a strained pectoral muscle, took possession and snapped a goal in the third quarter, an act that seemed to signal a flag was Collingwood's.

That year was the best, most consistent season of his career: a flag, an All Australian jumper, fourth placing in the club best and fairest and the club's leading goalkicker award.

He already had everyone's respect internally. Outside the club people recognised his maturing too.

Although he had won the Copeland Trophy and been named All Australian in 2006 it took until 2009 before Didak began to prioritise football in his life.

"I sort of had to sit back and work out whether I wanted to be a professional footy player or not," said Didak.

Thankfully for football fans that like sporting moments where they can lose themselves in the moment, Didak decided he did.

This year he enters the finals series with a different mindset to the one he had in 2010. Last season he wondered whether he would be able to play finals at all after tearing a pectoral muscle in round 21 against Adelaide.

Although he managed to get through he was restricted and required an operation when it ended. Sometimes he moved like a bird with a wing that had been soaked in an oil slick, struggling to hold tackles and take contested marks.

But his value remained unquestioned because when he took the ball in his hands he made it sing with his precise kicking or creative handballing. He has a rare touch, able to weight the ball with perfection, like a golfer who has mastered their short game.

The post-season operation led to an interrupted pre-season and he was playing catch-up through the first half of 2011. Midway through the season he also realised he had moved away from the basics, the fact he started as a sub in round nine an indication that he was not at his best.

Then he suffered a calf injury in round 14, the week following the bye, and missed the next five weeks as the club took a cautious approach with their blue chip stock. Again he returned as a sub in round 20 but this time the selection decision was to ensure his playing time had him peaking physically and mentally for the finals.

Didak says the operation may have affected him early but so may have the normal vagaries of form, luck, the bounce of the ball and the big blokes holding their marks. But he admits he is keen to be more involved as September gets serious.

"If you have high expectations and you set high expectations you want to get back to it," he said. "I am slowly, slowly getting back to it and I think in the last three weeks I'm showing signs." 

Beams has recognised those signs too recently, encouraging signals because he knows what Didak is capable of doing on a football field. "He can just do those freakish things that are unexpected," said Beams.

No wonder number 4 is one of the numbers most seen on the backs of young Magpie supporters. Even his teammates are fans. Harry O'Brien did not mince words when asked about the milestone. "It's been an absolute pleasure to play alongside him, someone of his talent, but more so he's one of my best mates and we've got a really strong bond," he said.

That bond is what has always kept Didak going. When asked to reflect on the greatest moment of his career - apart from the premiership - he looks beyond his on-field deeds. "I'm very, very lucky to be at a fantastic club, to meet new people and have fantastic friends. You can never replace that," said Didak.

Replacing a player such as Didak is difficult too. Few understand that playing as a high half-forward is one of football's most demanding roles, the constant running, the reading of the play and the need to make the most of your opportunities part of the job description.

Didak has spent 11 years playing mainly that role, mastering it, kicking 265 goals and creating countless opportunities for others.

The milestone is a wonderful achievement, a credit not only to his talent but his persistence and hard work. Once again he has an opportunity to be part of a premiership and he is ready to perform at his best. "I feel a lot better going into this finals series, definitely," he said.