Callan Ward has never been the best when it comes to remembering and reflecting on old milestone matches: what he did in them, how many kicks, marks and handballs he had, and whether the team won or lost. But in the last few days, it has been tough not to do that.

The week of Ward’s 250^th game has coincided with the 10^th anniversary of the GIANTS’ first game in the competition. There’s been photos of him leading the team out with Phil Davis, as a 21-year-old co-captain starting life at his second club. There’s been vision of him scooping the ball up a few steps inside the 50-metre line and kicking the club’s first ever goal. He posed for a photo with the other four originals: Davis, Adam Kennedy, Toby Greene and Stephen Coniglio.

Ward can remember the things that were running through his mind back then, and what was important to him at that point in his life. He was excited: there were so many “firsts” to celebrate as a foundation player, and the first game was right at the top of that list. There was some apprehension: he’d been talked into taking on the co-captaincy, and still working out how he functioned as a leader and how to recognise in himself what other people were seeing.

As a player he was still young. Aside from family, football meant everything to him, with a plan for life after it something that could wait a while. There were things he wanted to be as a player, things he wanted to achieve and a standing he hoped he could reach. He felt like he had another 10 years to work towards those things, but wanted to get started as soon as he could.

“The preseason that year is something I’ll never forget, because it was so intense and so brutal. And the excitement is the same, I won’t forget that because we had something like 14 first-gamers in that first game. None of us really knew what we were in for, but it was so much fun to be doing it together, leaning on each other and working it all out,” Ward said.

“In my mind I was still one of them, in some ways. I was still starting out. I didn’t feel like I’d consolidated myself by then as a good AFL player, so I was still striving to become a good, consistent player and become a good midfield player, someone who could really be relied upon to be there when the team needs them and show leadership and be able to take control at stoppages and those sorts of things.

“Leadership was always a big thing, not just the captaincy, but I knew we didn’t have a lot of experience at the club, especially through the midfield. And I didn’t have much either. So that was one thing, but mostly I was just trying to work on my game and trying as hard as I could to improve and become a good player. I was still so young. When you’re only three or four years in, I think you’re still trying to work towards this idea you have of what you want to be.

“I always wanted to be the one who played really well every week but I was still just working on my game because I hadn’t played well enough yet to be the one who could step up.”

Ward was working out who he was as a player back then, but also what mattered to him as a person. He had been forced to consider his future when the GIANTS’ called with a long-term offer to leave the Bulldogs – the club around the corner from his home – and move to Sydney to join the new team. It wasn’t something he had ever imagined he would do, and moving from Melbourne left meaning his friends and his family behind. At that point, they were his life. And they still would be, but making the move meant some relationships would shift.

Ward moved to Sydney without Ruby, then his girlfriend. She came up a year later; he’s not sure she really thought it would be for good, like it has been, but Sydney is where their life is now. Family still matters to him more than anything: he talks to his parents all the time, and calls his sisters to keep in touch. He loves his friends as much as ever but they have all grown up, and like them his list of priorities has shifted. His son Romeo turned two earlier this year, and there is a second baby Ward on the way. Ruby is now his wife; they have years and years of shared experiences now.

“Family has always mattered to me but other than that, I came up here and wasn’t thinking too far ahead,” Ward said.

“I was just living my life, trying to enjoy myself with good people around me, good mates. I don’t think I had too many responsibilities back then, it was more about getting the best out of myself as a football player and not thinking too much about what the future was going to look like, which I know is not the way you’re supposed to think.

“Family is still the most important thing now, and I guess living in a different state to my whole family and all my school mates, it’s harder to keep that connection. You’ve got to work a bit harder to keep in touch, get on the phone and think about how you spend your time. Now having a son and being married, spending time with Romeo and Ruby is where I want to be.

“I think with where I am now, there’s so much more to life than football, but that also helps your football. I used to get anxious all the time around meetings and thinking about footy, and when you have a son all that changes into this care and love for him and the way you can influence his start in life. I still get a bit anxious coming in for Monday meetings if I know I’ve played shit, but you do probably relax a bit on that front when you have other things to think about.”

As a footballer, Ward at 250 games is something different too. He knows more about himself, or is more assured than he was as a kid. He understands what he is capable of, what he stands for as a player and what he means to the team.

There is still a big hole there: in his mind he has not ever become as good a player as he wanted and intended to be. And he has had to work through the many things placed in his way, none more challenging than the knee injury that ruined his 2019 season.

“I definitely haven’t become the player I really wanted to become. You always strive to be one of the best players in the competition and I never really god there and getting injured came at a shit time for me,” Ward said.

“I thought I was going ok before that, and that was taken away with the knee. But I still think I can get back to my best, and even better than that.

“It gives you a lot more perspective when you’re not playing. You see the game a bit differently, but when you come back you just try to make the most of being fit and being able to enjoy training. Even if you’re in bad form or whatever, you’re grateful to be fit and able to play.

“You never, ever get to a point where you’re happy with how you’re going. There’s always more you can do to get better and so many more things you can work on. We haven’t won a premiership yet so that’s a big part of it, and you learn as you get older about all the things you have to do to feel good and play well and work around the different challenges that come your way. You don’t waste your time; you want everything to be better, more quickly.

“To get to this game, I’m actually really glad I can have my family there, and my friends, and people who have been along for the journey watching me and supporting me. That’s one of the biggest things, it’s not just you, so may other people get more out of it than me because they’ve been there the whole time and they’ve experienced all of it, just like I have.”