TOM Boyd feels he is well equipped to deal with the pressure of a seven-year deal worth more than $6 million that makes him the Western Bulldogs' marquee player at age 19.
The No.1 pick from the 2013 NAB AFL Draft was traded to the Bulldogs last week in exchange for ex-captain Ryan Griffen and draft pick No.6.
With just nine games to his name, Boyd is now one of the highest paid players in the AFL.
Despite the weighty expectations bound to follow him, Boyd said he is ready to meet them head on.
"It's hard to say but I already had the expectation on my shoulders being the No.1 pick and I don't look at [this situation] any differently," Boyd said on Tuesday.
"If I put my best foot forward, work really hard and get the best out of myself then I'll have no quarrels with the expectation placed on me."
The Bulldogs identified the need for a key forward and actively chased Boyd once it became apparent he wanted to return home to Melbourne.
Boyd was on a surfing trip with mates in the Mentawai Islands off the coast of Sumatra when the deal was being finalised.
Having unreliable phone reception only added to his anxiety.
"I'm not sure many people were as stressed as I was in the Mentawais," Boyd said.
"It's a pretty stressful period and I'm just glad it's all done and I can settle into my new home at the Whitten Oval and get stuck into pre-season."
Boyd said his experience at the Giants provided him with a steep learning curve, although he says he always thought about the prospect of returning home sometime during his career.
"There weren't particular things that I didn't enjoy about the club (Greater Western Sydney), but Melbourne's my home and I always felt like this is where I belonged," Boyd said.
The prospect of joining under-18 Vic Metro teammates Jack Macrae, Nathan Hrovat and Marcus Bontempelli at the Bulldogs, and a belief in the club's hierarchy headed by CEO Simon Garlick and president Peter Gordon only helped crystallise Boyd's decision.
Boyd and Hrovat took part in a school visit to Williamstown North Primary on Tuesday, taking a footy clinic and also listening to the school children giving the club's new recruit a rendition of the Bulldogs' club song.
Boyd was not afraid to join them in song.
"I actually had a book as a little kid of all the AFL's theme songs and I made it my life's mission to learn them at that age, so I knew it pretty much end to end," he said with a laugh.
