Finn Callaghan didn’t think he’d spend part of his debut season inside The Australian Ballet’s Southbank headquarters. But not much went to plan for the 2021 pick No. 3 after arriving at the GIANTS until a Zoom meeting changed the course of his year and his start to 2023.

That meeting was held on May 26 last year, just over a week after his debut season was brought to a frustrating end with just five AFL games on the board due to a nagging foot injury that simply wouldn’t go away. 

Callaghan’s manager, Tom Seccull, from Hemisphere Management Group, organised the meeting to put his client at ease after a challenging start to life in the AFL. More than ten people joined the call from Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, including Callaghan’s parents Brett and Lara. GIANTS GM Jason McCartney was central, along with GIANTS doctors, physios and welfare boss Dylan Addison.

It started with a rehab plan that focused on strengthening Callaghan’s feet, toes and calves – parts of the body most take for granted, especially young athletes – and involved working with world renowned physiotherapist, Dr Sue Mayes, the Australian Ballet director of artistic health. 

Mayes has left her fingerprints on the AFL previously. She helped Geelong vice-captain Tom Stewart return from a Lisfranc injury in 2021, Collingwood premiership player Ben Reid and most notably former North Melbourne defender Sam Wright reignite his career after ankle and foot battles.  

The 18-year-old travelled to and from Melbourne regularly with the GIANTS' head of medical services, James Rahme, to work closely with Mayes and with his personal physiotherapist in Sandringham. 

The work helped immensely, but the pain still continued, especially in boots. The GIANTS looked at everything from Callaghan’s running gait and biomechanics to simple insoles to support his arch. In the end, the 192cm midfielder had no alternative but to undergo surgery on August 25 to remove part of the sesamoid bone from his foot, following a blueprint successfully executed by Dylan Shiel and Travis Colyer in the past. 

Now seven months on from that operation, Callaghan is back in business. It has been a slow and steady build across the pre-season, navigating past small setbacks that are to be expected, overcoming a difficult start to life in the AFL.

The soreness hasn’t completely disappeared – and it won’t for some time – but the foot was an afterthought as he amassed a career-high 25 disposals, six marks and 421 metres gained in the stunning come-from-behind win over Adelaide at GIANTS Stadium. 

"It was very satisfying. First of all, it was just great to be playing again. It has been two and a half years with all my foot stuff. To be back out there is brilliant. I love playing with these boys, love the group. It was special to be a part of it," Callaghan told AFL.com.au from inside the rooms at GIANTS Stadium after the 16-point win in round one.

"It was a really tough year to be honest. When I got to the club, I thought my foot was alright, but I started training and it flared up it wasn’t good. It was a really slow build to get back. I got back and it was painful, I couldn’t run, I couldn’t change direction. In the end it was chronic pain, so we had to get surgery. 

"But it was still a great year of so much learning, though. I moved away from home, away from my family. It was definitely tough, but hopefully we are past that now. I don’t like speaking about my foot anymore. It’s great to be back. I love playing."

Callaghan was forced to watch Nick Daicos – who was selected the pick after him – dazzle in his first season at Collingwood to win the Rising Star while he battled a problem that wouldn’t go away. It taught him a valuable lesson that will stand him in good stead for as long as he plays this game. 

"I just learned a lot of resilience, definitely. Little things with my preparation to be a better player, but resilience was the main one," he said. "Even off-field, just learning to live away from home, that in itself is a challenge. We’ve got so much better at it and loving it."

Last Sunday was the start of a new era at the GIANTS. This time last year, Leon Cameron was at the beginning of the end of a great run at the GIANTS, but now Adam Kingsley is in charge of the club, leading the AFL’s youngest franchise back towards contention. 

The GIANTS were one of the big winners in round one, recovering from 31 points down to beat the Crows in conditions that would have invoked the extreme heat policy at the Australian Open – 36 degrees and suffocating humidity that saw some players finish the game half a dozen kilos lighter – and left Callaghan saturated and exhausted in the bowels of GIANTS Stadium after his comeback game.

"Never played in conditions that hot before," he said. "It was a brilliant win. To come back the way we did was just amazing. We had about three blokes out (in the last quarter), half the team was cramping, we knew if we played our way, got the tsunami going and really stuck together, we would be able to over run them in the end. All the boys were out on their feet, but we just pushed through in the end. What a brilliant win."

Before Callaghan put pen to paper on a two-year extension earlier this month, the Victorian attracted interest from a dozen clubs trying to pinch him from the GIANTS. Some offers were enormous. None were entertained. 

The St Bede’s College product was always intent on remaining at the GIANTS, he just wanted to get his foot right before finalising the details on a new deal that ties him to the club until the end of 2025, turning down the volume on trade speculation for now. 

"Once I was drafted, I knew I wanted to get in the side first and I was loving it. I just wanted to get my foot right. Now I’m very happy to get it out of the way. Now I can just focus on footy," he said.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it has taken a collection of people to get Callaghan back on the park, starting with the man himself. Key figures in the football department have been integral, along with Seccull, helping navigate a challenging start to life in the AFL.

Now with his foot sorted and his future settled, Callaghan can just focus on doing what he does best.