ADAM Saad very much prefers to go under the radar. It’s how he prefers to do things now - and it’s how he entered the AFL competition some 11 years ago.

One of the great success stories of the state league competition, Saad’s path to the elite level didn’t start out the way he would’ve wanted. Nor has it historically been the conventional path for the 683 players in the history of the VFL/AFL who have chalked up a double century to this point.

A premiership player with Phil Cleary’s under-18s West Coburg side originally, the natural progression for Saad - who originally played in the forward pocket - was representing the Calder Cannons in what was then known as the TAC Cup. Come his top-age year, Saad was on the radars of a few clubs, but ultimately didn’t get picked.

That disappointment turned to hunger, making the short trip to the Coburg City Oval to chance his arm with the Lions in the VFL. The first year was spent splitting his time between the VFL and the now-defunct AFL Victoria Development League - but it was in 2014 when the football world really started to take notice of the player Saad now is today.

Named in the back pocket of the VFL Team of the Year (which, coincidentally, also included future teammate Nic Newman), Saad mixed it with AFL-listed talent - and, more often than not, won out. Come the draft at the end of the year, it could’ve gone one of two ways. He wasn’t selected in the national draft, but it was third time lucky the next day.

There wasn’t the pomp and circumstance of having his name read out on draft night. Back then, there wasn’t even live commentary of the rookie draft - simply a table being updated on the AFL website. It was then when Saad was at home when his name simply appeared on the screen.

The rest is history.

As a fresh-faced Saad told the Coburg Football Club YouTube channel 11 years ago now, the feeling back then - which also saw almost all of the Coburg Football Club swarm to the Saad household - was “indescribable”.

“I don’t know what to say. I was inside my house, Mum was sitting on the couch as well as a friend - and then I just saw my name pop up at pick No.25. It’s just the most amazing thing to have happened,” Saad said in 2014.

“Dad was sleeping when I found out! I went into the room and started hugging him, saying ‘I’m going to the Gold Coast’. He had a massive smile on his face, a big relief.

“2012 I missed out… I was absolutely shattered. But I had to move on pretty quickly… the dream is never over.”

Saad didn’t have to wait long to earn his chance. The running bounce machine immediately caught the eye of footy watchers after making his AFL debut for the Suns in Round 1 of 2015.

He led the AFL for bounces per game in all three of his seasons for Gold Coast, before he returned to Melbourne at the end of 2017. Long-time neighbour Ang Christou was trying to get Saad across to his old club, but he ended up at Essendon instead - once again catching the eye as a half-back flanker who could defend as well as he could attack.

But it wasn’t long before Saad ultimately found himself in Navy Blue, as after three seasons with the arch rival, Saad requested a trade to the Blues at the end of 2020.

It was one of the most talked about trades of a very busy off-season across the competition in the heart of the pandemic - and Saad couldn’t help but acknowledge the full-circle nature of it all on his first day at IKON Park after the trade went through.

“When you think of it, it’s crazy,” Saad said in 2020.

“Piranha Park in Coburg is only three or four kilometres away, I live not too far from here as well. It was meant to be.”

What’s clear is that Saad has well and truly repaid that faith back to the football club after his acquisition in 2020. Approaching 100 games in Navy Blue and with his double century of AFL games to come in Gather Round this weekend, Saad has captured the hearts of the Navy Blue faithful, who greet his every kick with the ‘woof’ previously reserved for Christou and Val Perovic.

He combines his on-field talents with his off-field character. The Adam Saad Pathways program continues to elevate itself year on year, while he was the recipient of the Tom Hafey Variety Heart of Football Award in 2021 as well as a nominee for the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award in 2022.

That 2022 campaign saw him crowned an All Australian for the first time, but it’s been his consistency which has defined him. Fronting up each week as part of the Blues’ back seven, Saad has missed just eight games since his arrival at the Club - and it’s clear that on the back of re-signing for an extra year before the season even began, he’s right at home on Royal Parade.

His comments from just a few weeks ago sum it all up.

“I always pinch myself. Playing for the biggest club in the land, living so close - a lot of my family support this club. I never take it for granted, being able to drive in and be able to play for a club like this.

“It’s unbelievable.”