Every year, the feedback in Callan Ward's exit meetings would have a familiar feel.

"Kick more goals."

Ward might be 34 now, but the message has finally got through. A recent move to the wing has revitalised the GIANTS' spiritual leader, has taught him a few new tricks, left him with a few less bruises, and given him a few more rewards.

The veteran has now kicked multiple goals in four consecutive matches, the best return over a month-long stretch throughout his storied 17-year career, and has helped to inspire a dramatic turnaround in the GIANTS' form.

"Every time I get to an end of year review, I always say that I've only kicked 10 or 15 goals this year. I always feel like I can kick more goals. Even as a midfielder, I've always wanted to kick 20 or 25 and more. It's something in my career that I've never really done and still haven't," Ward told AFL.com.au this week.

"I've always had the confidence that I can kick more goals, I just haven't really done it. It's only been a month, but it would be nice to keep kicking some. The goalkicking is something that I've always tried to work on in my whole entire career.

"It's a role internally that's really celebrated. That's probably the main thing I've enjoyed as a player. In the reviews and all of that sort of stuff, they really, really celebrate the wing role. That's important, I think. Plus, I'm also pulling up pretty well from games. There's not as much contact there on the wing on the outside."

Ward, who played his 300th AFL game earlier this year and is the GIANTS' all-time games record holder, has fit a lot into his career. The majority of his best football has been played as a crashing and courageous inside midfielder, though there have been stints across half-back and time spent at half-forward.

Barely any of it has been played on a wing, though. However, going into a clash with Geelong back in May, GIANTS coach Adam Kingsley had the idea to play his veteran in an entirely new role. The only problem was he never actually got to tell him about it. Ward went down with gastro that week, putting Kingsley's plan on hold.

But, now fit again, it's been a tactical tweak that's paid immense dividends. Over the last month Ward had has 19 disposals and two goals against Sydney, 24 and two against Adelaide, 30 and two against Carlton, then 13 and two against Richmond. So, could he have foreseen the move being such a success at his age?

"To be honest, at the start of the year I would have said no," Ward said.

"But, at the start of last year when 'Kingers' first came on board, I didn't really know where I was at. To be honest, I hadn't really enjoyed playing footy for a while. I didn't know where my best football was, I didn't know whether I could still play my best football. I was 32, about to turn 33, but at that first meeting I had with 'Kingers' he was really confident in playing me as a forward.

"I tried to do that for the first six weeks of the season, then got moved into the midfield. But I felt like he's given me great confidence in nailing that position and I thought I was doing pretty well until I was moved into the midfield. Since then, I've played that midfield role.

"I guess, at my age, you always need to try different ways to stay in the team and play at your best. Finding different roles and being versatile is an important part of my game as well. It's been handy that I've had to fill this wing spot and I'm enjoying it."

The wing has revitalised and rejuvenated Ward, a feeling that felt some way in the distance a couple of years ago. In the final seasons of Leon Cameron's reign, as the GIANTS looked to respond following their 2019 Grand Final heartbreak, the star midfielder couldn't see the road back to the final weeks of September.

But the arrival of Kingsley and an entirely new coaching group ahead of the 2023 season, the prospect of a clear and defined role in his attacking and exciting system, and the instant improvement in the side's form last season set Ward on a refreshing new path.

"At the end of 2022, or midway through that year, I was just playing ordinary. Really ordinary. My body didn't feel great, I just felt like I was ageing really quickly and we weren't going great either on the back of a few good years," Ward said.

"I was coming back from a few injuries and a few small niggles that I'd never really had to deal with through my whole career. It was at a point where I was thinking, 'What am I doing?' We weren't going well as a team. Really, I was playing to play in a premiership and I didn't really have the motivation at the time.

"At the end of 2022, I didn't think of retiring at all, but I did question my purpose and what I was doing. That's when 'Kingers' came in and a few other coaches came in, we had a few others come in as well in terms of staff members and stuff like that, and from then I've really turned around my mindset and I've really enjoyed it."

Now, Ward can finally see success on the horizon again. Last season, the Giants came within a point of a remarkable Grand Final berth. This year, five consecutive wins to begin the season made Kingsley's side premiership favourites. If a flag was to eventuate, few would deserve it more than Ward.

After all, his journey to this point has been tinged with heartbreak. Last year's thriller against Collingwood was his fifth preliminary final loss following defeats with the Bulldogs in 2009 and 2010, then with the GIANTS in 2016 (against the Dogs), 2017 and 2023. He also missed the side's Grand Final berth in 2019 having ruptured his ACL earlier that season.

"I'd love to play in a Grand Final and in a premiership," Ward said.

"I think every player playing in the AFL really wants that. The later in my career and the older I get, the more I want it and the more I crave it. This is my 17th year now and I've played in five losing preliminary finals, which isn't a great stat. It does motivate me to play in a Grand Final and win a premiership.

"There's a feeling that if I didn't achieve that by the end of my career, I'd almost ... how do I put this? I wouldn't be sad for the rest of my life, but it would definitely be something that burnt for the rest of my life. I'd think back to a few of those preliminary finals and think, 'If only I did this' or, 'If only the ball bounced this way in that contest'.

"There are definitely things that stick out in my mind in terms of things being different. But the motivation is definitely the highest it's ever been. I've still got full confidence in the team and in the group as well."

That confidence has soared over the last fortnight. Following a period where the GIANTS lost six of eight games, falling back into the middle of the pack, a statement win over Carlton and a professional performance against Richmond at the MCG has steadied the ship.

The victory over the top-two Blues, in particular, left Ward with a feeling that the GIANTS could return to the latter parts of September as Kingsley's side kicked nine consecutive goals to overturn an early 39-point deficit in an emphatic display of its scoring power.

This Saturday, the club will look to make it three triumphs on the trot when it hosts a Gold Coast side that hasn't recorded a victory on the road from its past 15 matches. It will be another golden opportunity for the Giants, and another fantastic chance for Ward to stretch his scoring streak.

"I think, internally, we've always had that belief and confidence. But over the last two months before the last two weeks, we were kind of losing a bit of confidence in the way we were playing," Ward said.

"We were losing games, I think we'd lost six of the last eight, and we weren't playing the football we train and we know we can play. It got to a stage where it was almost like time was starting to run out. There were only eight weeks left, so we knew we needed to start playing good footy and banking some wins.

"The season is so tight and the ladder is so tight that every game is so big at the moment. But the win over Carlton, playing against a team in the top-two who were playing some incredible football, it was confidence-boosting. We almost got back to our best against Carlton in that game.

"I don't know whether we needed that, but it was definitely good to have a good win and play the GIANTS way again."