Sydney Swans coach John Longmire put Hayden McLean in the hot seat at Wednesday’s team meeting. He wanted the young Swan to remind his teammates of his rollercoaster ride to the top.

McLean was knocked back at countless drafts and landed at his fourth club in six months when he arrived at the Swans as a pre-season recruit in March.

A knee injury would also limit the imposing forward-ruckman to just seven of a possible 13 NEAFL games in his early days in red and white.

McLean’s teammates watched on in awe as he detailed his journey from the hot seat – and from the moment the room erupted as Longmire shared some words of his own, the 20-year-old had another seat booked for the Swans’ trip to the west.

McLean will run out for his long-awaited AFL debut as Sydney squares off with Fremantle at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Saturday night, and he said hearing the news from Longmire made for an unbelievable moment.

“It’s a dream come true. As a kid you always dream of this day and after the year I’ve had it feels unreal,” McLean told SwansTV.

“My teammates were ecstatic for me. They all got around me when John broke the news and they’re still sending me messages now.

“It’ll be an experience of a lifetime to run out on Saturday night. I obviously haven’t ever played with so many fans in the crowd. It’s such a big stadium and a new stadium as well, I’ll have to take it in and hopefully it doesn’t impact on me too much.”

McLean spent his 2018 campaign with VFL club the Sandringham Dragons, before training with St Kilda for two weeks in the lead-up to last year’s drafts.

But after an unsuccessful Saints trial, he was left to contemplate one question: “Where can I go next to show what I’ve got?”

That question led him to the South Adelaide Panthers in the SANFL – ironically, the same club as Michael Knoll, the former US college basketballer who would join McLean at the Swans as a mid-season rookie in May.

But after a phone call from Swans list manager Kinnear Beatson midway through March, McLean was on a plane to Sydney.

The 197-centimetre, 93-kilogram Swan produced the best game of his time in red and white on Saturday, slotting a match-high three goals and gathering eight marks as Sydney toppled the Southport Sharks.

“I had a bit of time out with a knee injury so it’s good to be back and finding some form,” McLean said on SwansTV on Monday.

“I’m feeling a lot better and it’s good to be finding some continuity and playing with the boys again.”

Not even a week has passed since his stand-out NEAFL performance, but the bright lights of the AFL now await.