INJURY-troubled defender Campbell Heath was close to giving up on chasing an AFL career in 2011, but the Sydney Swans have offered him another shot and he is determined to take it.
Heath, who played two senior games in 2010, has been plagued by knee problems and was delisted at the end of 2011.
But the 20-year-old has been training with the club throughout the pre-season and did enough for the Swans to select him with the 31st pick in Tuesday's rookie draft.
Asked if he thought his AFL career might have been over, Heath told AFL.com.au: "This year that question was thrown up a lot and I wondered if my body was going to hold up.
"I doubted my ability at one stage and I was pretty close to throwing it in to be honest.
"It was pretty hard coming back from major injuries with my knees and especially trying to find form as well, it was very difficult.
"But the boys around me kept me going, kept me cheerful, and I got through it all."
At 188cm and 79kg, Heath seemingly has an outstanding physique for senior football and was taken by the Swans with the 61st pick in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.
He has been let down by his body, however, starting with a knee reconstruction in 2009.
Heath finished school in Melbourne before moving to Sydney in 2010, playing two senior games that season before losing his place to the returning Tadhg Kennelly.
Another knee reconstruction at the start of 2011, when he underwent LARS surgery, was another setback before he required a clean-up at the end of the year and was then delisted.
But Swans player manager Kinnear Beatson said Heath had earned his place back on the rookie list.
"He's worked really hard, presented himself well in the pre-season and is really popular among the group," Beatson said.
"We know that when he's up and about he's totally committed at the ball and a strong, hard player.
"We were keen to give him another opportunity for sure.
"We wouldn't offer him a spot on the rookie list if we didn't think he had the potential of regaining his form and confidence and playing at the AFL level. We feel that he's certainly capable of it."
Despite his injury troubles and stop-start career, Heath still says it has "been a dream" to this stage.
His two games in 2010 were against Fremantle at the SCG and Hawthorn at the MCG and he is desperate for some more senior football.
"I got a taste, playing at the SCG in such a great atmosphere with a home crowd and then I had the privilege of playing down in Melbourne as well in front of my family and friends," he said.
"I just want to get out there again and hopefully string a few games together.
"It's been a dream to this stage and hopefully I can stay in the system a bit longer.
"I'd like to try to get into the senior side as soon as possible.
"With Tadhg Kennelly and Craig Bolton's retirements last year, that's the position I play, so I'm confident of getting into that position and then hopefully holding it.
"That's my aim."
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
