When the Draft finally arrived last Friday night, Oscar Clavarino felt sick. All the highly scrutinised games, interviews and testing came down to this moment.

Would a club reward him for his stellar underage career with a spot on their list?

As the picks started rolling, Clavarino’s stomach clenched, he’d never been more nervous in his first 18 years.

And then the moment arrived.

With their third selection, St Kilda snared the All-Australian key defender at pick No. 35, turning Clavarino’s home into chaos.

“I’ve never been more nervous in my life, to be honest. I was at home with all my family over – all my cousins and aunties and uncles – that was pretty exciting and we were all sitting there nervously,” Clavarino told journalists at his first press conference.

“I probably didn’t say a word all night until my name was called out just because I felt sick in the stomach.

“As soon as my name was called out it was to an extent a relief, but at the same time so exciting – I was just over the moon.”

Within moments of his fate being sealed, calls and text messages began gushing in, before Saints star midfielder David Armitage turned up on his doorstep in Berwick to welcome him to the red, white and black family.

“When he [Armitage] rocked up with the media team it was really exciting to see him and finally realise that these are the kind of guys that I will be hanging out with,” Clavarino said.

Once the dust had settled over the weekend, Clavarino walked into Linen House Centre for the first time on Monday morning, beginning his new life as a Saint.  

“It was pretty overwhelming walking into a club with so many familiar faces that you’ve watched on TV every weekend; that was a bit surreal,” he said.

“But it was a great honour to get in there and meet a few of the boys and get to know them on a personal level.”