JAIDYN Stephenson has been a revelation for Collingwood so far in his debut season, but the Magpies only received clearance to pick the exciting forward five hours before last year's NAB AFL Draft.
Recruiting manager Derek Hine revealed on AFL.com.au's Road to the Draft podcast the club, including president Eddie McGuire, only decided to take Stephenson on draft day last year.
Stephenson projected as a top-five pick for nearly three seasons after bursting onto the scene as an under-16 player in 2015, but just weeks before the draft, clubs were made aware of Stephenson's heart condition, which saw some take him off their draft boards.
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But the Pies did their own medical checks and, on the afternoon of last year's draft in Sydney, decided they would be taking the speedy Eastern Ranges product if the first five picks fell as expected.
"From our perspective (the Collingwood recruiters) it was more about getting the approval from the appropriate experts and medical guys. There was some really consistent conversations and credit to our doctors, they were unbelievably professional. I really felt for Jaidyn and [his family] because they went to hell and back," Hine said.
"In the end, I take my hat off to our doctors and the process they went through because they spelled it out for us. We actually really didn't decide until two o'clock on the day of the draft that we'd be taking him.
"And that was probably more along gathering all the information and getting all the key stakeholders in the room and Ed [McGuire] was on a conference call and we were able to make the decision."
Hine said the Magpies had only become aware of the "potential gravity" of the heart issue in early November last year.
"It was like a snowball going down a hill, there was all this stuff that was going on, so probably 14-21 days before the draft [we found out about the condition's potential seriousness]," Hine said.
"Talking to Jaidyn after the draft he said, 'I can relax now'."
Stephenson has kicked 10 goals so far this season, including a five-goal haul in Collingwood's win over Adelaide in round four. The 19-year-old is the Pies' third-highest goalkicker for the year behind Will Hoskin-Elliott (13 goals) and Josh Thomas (12) but was held goalless on Sunday in his side’s loss to Geelong.
"He hasn't put a foot wrong," Hine said of the recent draftee.
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