The 11th-hour call that netted Collingwood the Rising Star favourite Jaidyn Stephenson

RISING Star favourite Jaidyn Stephenson entered the 2017 AFL draft with question marks over a heart condition that threatened to scare off clubs. Here’s how Collingwood made the brave decision to take a punt on the young goal machine.

Stephenson has been a mainstay in the Pies’ top-four attack. Picture: Getty Images

COLLINGWOOD powerbrokers approved the 11th-hour decision to recruit Jaidyn Stephenson at pick No.6 last year via a teleconference held on draft day.

Stephenson, 19, is tipped to be crowned the Magpies’ first ever Rising Star winner tomorrow after a blistering debut season in which he has played all 22 games and booted 34 goals.

Several clubs ruled out the Ferntree Gully jet because of the revelation he was carrying a genetic heart condition which requires six beta blockers per day.

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Stephenson has been a mainstay in the Pies’ top-four attack. Picture: Getty Images

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But the Magpies received medical clearance from global experts the day before the draft and then unanimously agreed to draft Stephenson on the conference call.

“It was led by Geoff Walsh, our director of football,” Collingwood president Eddie McGuire told the Herald Sun yesterday.

“We had a meeting to confirm that we had done our due diligence on Jaidyn’s medical issues and we had full confirmation from our medical staff and expert cardiologists.

“Geoff Walsh, Derek Hine, Matt Rendell and our recruiting staff put it forward and it was ratified by our interim CEO, Peter Murphy, and myself.

“Draft day is a big day for every club, so (the teleconference) was about going through our final notes beforehand and giving sign-off from the board.

“There was only a little bit of significance to it because Jaidyn had a pre-existing condition. They (medical staff) gave the green light to Derek Hine to call his name.”

Stephenson’s speed and ability to break lines has been a feature for the Pies this season. Picture: Michael Klein

Stephenson — re-signed until 2021 — was a raging $1.20 favourite to secure the trophy.

Coach Nathan Buckley has likened Stephenson’s chasing pressure to Hawthorn stars Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo while captain Scott Pendlebury gushed at his lightning speed and freakish acts at training.

“It is long overdue (a Collingwood winner) and, as you said, it’d be fitting that the first person to ever win the Rising Star (Buckley in 1993) will be the coach of this year’s,” McGuire said.

“The great thing about Jaidyn is, according to all the coaches, he’s so coachable.

“He’s a young kid who loves his football and he has a wonderful family who are there every week, which I love seeing.

“He’s just got that little bit of excitement about him, which gives the Collingwood army something to love.

“There’s nothing like having a speedster — or a racehorse, as they used to call them in the old commentary — and Jaidyn’s been fantastic in his first year.

“I hope (today) is a wonderful day for him and his family.”

AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan ranked Stephenson No.1 last year and said he was “Peter Matera-like”.

Stephenson has joined only a handful of teenage draftees to play every game in their first season in recent years.

They are Cam Rayner (Brisbane), Touk Miller (Gold Coast), Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide) and Rising Star winners Lewis Taylor (Brisbane) and Jaeger O’Meara (Hawthorn).