MATT Priddis says the pain of being overlooked at three national drafts has given him the drive to become one of the elite midfielders in the AFL.

Priddis was the surprise winner of last year's Brownlow Medal and his path to the top is outlined in an interview in this week's AFL Record.

Priddis was a prolific possession winner for WAFL club Subiaco, but because he wasn't blessed with pace and was not regarded as a line-breaker, he held little appeal to the AFL talent scouts of the time, for whom speed was king.

"I was shattered after each of those drafts," he told the Record. "Obviously it was a childhood dream to play in the AFL and it wasn't going to happen.

"I went in with the mindset each pre-season that if that wasn't going to happen then I just wanted to play at the highest level possible. If that was for Subiaco in the WAFL, then I would be the best possible player I could be there."

At one stage Priddis did a pre-season with Adelaide in the hope of being picked in the rookie draft, and was offered big money to remain in South Australia and play in the SANFL after being overlooked by the Crows.

But he was close to Subiaco coach Peter German and instead returned to the Lions for another year of WAFL footy at just $250 a game.

Only then did he get drafted by West Coast – with the 31st pick of the 2006 rookie draft. He would play in two premierships with the WAFL Lions and would win the 2006 Sandover Medal while on the Eagles' list, and by 2007 was a regular member of the West Coast midfield.

But the pain of the rejection continues to drive him and remains seared in his mind. "That's the attitude I've brought to the AFL, (to) always improve, always get the best out of myself, and see where that takes me."

Read the full story in the round two edition of the AFL Record, available at all grounds.