He was the best and fairest player in the best team in the AFL last year, but couldn’t earn himself a Victorian jumper earlier this month.

And his own coach was picking the team!

But Dion Prestia said he hasn’t lost any sleep over his state snub for last month’s bushfire relief match.

Sportsday co-host Sam McClure first revealed Prestia’s omission from the squad, which led to an awkward chat with Damien Hardwick.

Hardwick, himself, told 3AW he felt some guilt over the call.

But speaking on Sportsday, Prestia said he understood the difficulty of picking the squad.

“I was trying to get emergency, so I’d get a jumper at least,” Prestia joked.

“There’s a lot of pretty good midfielders running around in the AFL from Victoria.

“It doesn’t bother me too much.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview on 3AW