Carlton were hell-bent on drafting Jagga Smith in 2024.
Decision-makers at Princes Park manoeuvred and manipulated their draft hand expertly so that the prolific Oakleigh Chargers product would don their crest.
Hearts were understandably broken, then, when at the tender age of 18, their great Blue hope tore his ACL in a 2025 pre-season match, against St Kilda.
Far be it from Smith to drop his bundle. Instead, that setback made his coronation as the AFL's 2026 Rising Star that much sweeter.
Speaking to Zero Hanger shortly after adding his name to the glittering list of winners in the award's history, the 19-year-old credited three factors that enabled his recovery and accelerated his emergence, after missing his entire first season.
"I'd say it was just a blend of three things," Smith said.
"I'd say family support, the medical team and just my own drive, wanting to get into the club and get better every day. They're the three things that really helped me bounce back after my knee, and propelled me to play some not-too-bad footy."
Smith made his debut in an Opening Round clash with the Sydney Swans, a week before facing off against his boyhood club, Richmond, in front of more than 70,000 fans.
"It was obviously an amazing experience and a long lifetime dream to play AFL footy. To do that in the opening round of the season was great off the back of the knee - it was just a truly memorable day, playing an AFL game with such great players."
After those two outings, Carlton had seen enough, granting their man a contract extension that sees him tied to their club until the end of 2030.
Smith beat out teammate and fellow finalist Harry Dean for the award, with only one member of the voting panel not awarding the midfielder maximum votes.
Smith was quick to note, however, that there are many other youngsters for Blues faithful to be excited about, outside of the two most obvious pillars of the club's future.
"I feel like it's really exciting, but what I would say, is it's just not me and Harry (Dean)," he said.
"We (Carlton) have four nominees this year, so it just shows that we've got some youth coming through as well, as well as some really good experience. So it's I feel like it's really exciting times at Carlton."
However, it didn't always look that way, especially in the early days.
The Blues were 1-8 to start this year, before moving on from coach Michael Voss, despite Smith's stellar start. Josh Fraser was appointed on an interim basis, before the team's rise under his tutelage became too great to ignore, and he was appointed the club's full-time coach.
Smith admitted to riding the rollercoaster of emotions that such a turn of events brought with it.
"I feel like the first 10 weeks, I was sort of riding the rollercoaster of AFL footy," he said.
"But when "Frase" came in, he kept it really simple, and we just attacked each week and tried to work as hard as possible, and I feel like the results have come on the back of that.
"He's been an amazing, "Frase", for the club and he's created a really steady brand of footy. "Vossy" was awesome also, but yeah, Fraser's been amazing in the back half of the year."
Jagga averaged 24.9 disposals, four clearances, nine contested possessions and over six score involvements in his first home and away season, and will look to carry such excellence into his first AFL finals series, beginning this weekend.
