After 13 months of hard work, the moment Matt Buntine had been waiting for finally arrived.
It had been a long road back from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) for the GIANTS foundation player, but – for the most part with fellow injured defender Adam Kennedy alongside him – he’d ticked off each and every box to return to the frame for AFL contention.
Buntine had been back in action for the GIANTS’ NEAFL side for four weeks and strong performances saw him push his case for an AFL call-up.
Just days out from the GIANTS’ round 10 clash with Essendon, he finally found out he’d be returning – 420 days after his previous AFL appearance.
“The moment I got selected for my first game back this season was probably one of the fondest moments of my life,” Buntine told GIANTS TV.
“It was a long journey, the 13-month rehab with the ACL. Leon called the group in out in the cage.
“I had a little hope, walking into the meeting, that I’d be a good chance (to get selected). It was a special moment.
“(Mark) ‘Spike’ McVeigh said I was going to be in the line-up against the Bombers. It was certainly a moment I’ll treasure forever.”
Everything’s bigger up close. CLICK HERE to renew or become a GIANTS 2019 member today.
And as for the moments following the announcement he would be playing his first AFL match in over a year:
“It was great. I was around all the boys and (they) showed their care and love for me in celebrating my selection,” Buntine said.
“I don’t think it quite sunk in, but (it was) just a real satisfied, full feeling of all the work that I’d put in over the 13 months of rehab.
“Early mornings and long days, and finally it paid off and it was just a really, really heart-warming and a really great moment of my life.”
Buntine said an AFL return had been “one of those beacons of hope and a goal for anyone going through a long-term rehab” since day one of his rehab, when it hit him hard that he was going to be out of the game he loved for a long time.
The game itself did not go quite as hoped for Buntine himself or the team, as the GIANTS sunk to their fourth consecutive defeat, but it was an important milestone on the way back for the then 24-year-old, who went on to play in the GIANTS’ two finals.
A Season Defined is a nine-part series that will be released over the coming weeks, taking a look back at some of the key moments from the GIANTS’ rollercoaster 2018 season.
