Fremantle defender Hayden Young is preparing for the biggest game of his short career, when the Dockers face Collingwood in a do-or-die semi-final at the MCG on Saturday night.
But it was only a few short months ago the 21-year-old defender was doubting whether he would make it as a professional footballer.
His first two seasons in the game were cruelled by injury, with a serious ankle issue limiting him to just five games in 2020, before a hamstring problem kept him to just eight in 2021.
This season, however, Young has played in 21 of Fremantle's 23 matches, and was rewarded with a new four-year contract in May.
'Is this just my story?'
Young revealed that during his darker moments, he wondered if his AFL journey would be over before it began.
"When I sort of think about those first two years, it was a pretty hard struggle to stay on the path," he said.
"I had a few injuries that kept me out for a while. And yeah, I certainly had my doubts. Even leading into this year, I sort of thought like, am I going to be a consistent AFL player? Is this just my story?"
For advice, Young turned to a key defender who has battled his own significant injury demons, to help remind himself that all was not lost.
"Someone that I sort of used as motivation a fair bit over the last couple years was Alex Pearce, who's had a similar story where he had a lot of injuries and had a lot of setbacks," Young said.
"And his mindset sort of changed a lot of things for me, because he certainly had it worse than me, and he still had a really positive outlook.
"And although he had his struggles, his determination and drive to get back to playing footy sort of gave me no reason to be down on myself. If he can do it, then I can."
Young revealed that like his teammate Sam Switkowski, he was a Collingwood supporter growing up, meaning he was relishing the prospect of a massive crowd at the MCG this weekend.
Young keen to 'break their hearts'
Young said he was hopeful a win for his Dockers could help some of his friends find a new club to barrack for during the remainder of the finals.
"It's a great opportunity for us as a club, big final in front of a big crowd," Young said.
"And as a Melbourne boy, getting to play in front of my family and friends, it's pretty special, so I'm super keen.
"I grew up going to games at the MCG, I was a Collingwood supporter too.
"So yeah, I've been part of that 80-90,000 watching Collingwood games, and the atmosphere was always electric.
"I'm really keen to be a part of that and yeah, hopefully break their hearts.
"A lot of my mates are Collingwood supporters and I'm sort of hoping I can get the win and get them to jump ship and get on the Freo bandwagon."
Should Fremantle get past the Magpies on Saturday, Young believes the sky is the limit on what they can achieve this year.
"We certainly believe in our ability to go all the way this year," he said.
"We feel our best footy is good enough and we're focusing on getting the job done this week and then worry about the future after that.
"I think from this season, there is a lot to be excited about in the coming years, but at the moment we are purely focused on getting the job done this year."
