Key defender Jack Buckley has signed a three-year contract extension with the GIANTS, taking him through to the end of 2026.

It’s a remarkable comeback story for the 25-year-old, who has only played 25 games over six seasons but is currently ranked as the number one key defender in the competition.

“I’m over the moon about it,” Buckley said.

“To be in a position to sign a three-year deal is massive for me and my family and just being able to stay at this club and play here for the next three years and hopefully more beyond that.

“I’m just grateful to be able to give back to the club.”

Buckley hasn’t had the traditional path to the top. The son of Ben Buckley - the former North Melbourne President who played 74 games for the Kangaroos – he's always had football in his blood, but he grew up in Sydney and fell out of love with the game as a teenager while part of the Swans Academy.

He came back to footy after he started university, playing local AFL Sydney level with the UNSW-ES Bulldogs. He made it to Premier Division and then played as a top-up for the GIANTS’ NEAFL side in 2017.

In 2018 he was offered a rookie contract with the club, but it took another two-and-a-half seasons of toiling away before he broke through for his debut in round 17, 2020, playing as a wingman.

By the beginning of 2021 he’d cemented himself in the team and an injury to Phil Davis in round three opened up a spot in the backline. He went on to play every game of that season before a catastrophic knee injury in round 16 against the Hawks.

Setback after setback ensued and it would end up being 623 days before he would take to an AFL field again.

“I sort of figured out pretty quickly it wasn’t really a traditional recovery in terms of the damage that was in there,” Buckley said.

“It ended up taking a while early and then made a little bit of a breakthrough and then had a setback and that sort of just became the theme of my rehab.

“Definitely a really hard time of my life, for sure, but it's probably helped me in coming back this year, just how grateful I am to be back out there, and you can’t take it for granted at all.

“I’ve learnt a lot about resilience and how to keep my body right to be out there this year.”

After working his way back to full training, Buckley was a late inclusion for round one and has played every game this season.

With Sam Taylor out with injury, he’s taking the opposition’s number one key forward every week, competing in the most one-on-one contests in the competition and elevating himself to the number one ranked key defender in the league.

“It’s pretty much all about taking your opportunity when it comes,” he said.

“It all happened really quickly … you’re back to being an AFL footballer and that’s all I wanted to get back to over the past couple of years.”