ANTHONY Miles remembers the "emotional roller-coaster" he rode when he was without an AFL home for nearly two months late last year as pretty tough to bear.
But it all seemed worth it last weekend when he made his debut for Richmond against North Melbourne after being upgraded from the club's rookie list a fortnight ago.
The 22-year-old was thrilled to be back on the AFL field after spending the first half of the season in the VFL, where he impressed with several standout performances.
It was reward for effort for the tough midfielder after he was cut from Greater Western Sydney after 10 games in two years at the end of last season.
"There was a little bit of doubt over whether I would get another chance," Miles told AFL.com.au this week.
"It's been fantastic to play my first senior game for Richmond."
It wasn't a seamless path to Punt Road for the midfielder.
There were sleepless nights in November last year after he failed to find a new home in the NAB AFL Trade period.
Then, two weeks before the NAB AFL Rookie Draft, the Tigers – after initially showing interest – rang to tell him they probably weren't going to have room for him on their list.
"It's a bit of time where you're told you'll get another chance and then a week later, it changes again and then it keeps changing," Miles said.
"It's a real emotional roller-coaster, if that makes any sense."
There were a few other clubs that had shown interest in recruiting him before the landscape shifted once again the night before the draft.
The Tigers rang to tell Miles not to be surprised if he was taken with one of their rookie selections – but not to take that as a guarantee.
After a sleepless night and 26 other selections, Miles became a Tiger.
To this day, he's not sure what changed their thinking.
He'd stayed active in his hometown of Albury, training with his uncle – dual Olympic runner Pat Scammell – and was the fittest he believed he'd ever been.
But he thinks the influence of Mark Williams, who was an assistant coach at the Giants before he left for Richmond himself at the end of 2012, might have had something to do with it.
"I think he might have been one of the factors and what changed their mind during that two week period," Miles said.
"He was probably a big believer in me when I was at the Giants so I think he probably had a big part in it.
"He was fantastic for me and he's a really good teacher of the game and is great with young players.
"To be reunited with him has been great and this year I've learned a lot from him and all the other coaches at Richmond."
Away from football, Miles has started studying teaching at Victoria University with the eventual goal to move into primary school physical education.
He's also passionate about his Christian faith, which he developed as a teenager and shared with former teammates Jonathan Giles and Setanta O'hAilpin when he was in Sydney.
"Mum grew up in a Christian household and I became a Christian when I was about 14," he said.
"I continued my faith when I was in Sydney and went to Hillsong Church there and have kept going to church here in Melbourne."
His friendship with Giles has led to the pair planning an end-of-season trip to Africa where they'll work in a Zambia orphanage run by Giles' aunty and uncle.
"It's kind of a mission trip, which will be great so we're in the process of organising that at the moment," he said.
"We're heading there for a week and a half to do some work in the orphanage and maybe build a classroom and do some other things.
"We'll just help out where we can."
