As co-captain Callan Ward gets set to become the first GIANT to play 100 games for the club, we take a look back at some of his best performances over the past 99 games.

Callan Ward joined the GIANTS at the end of 2011 as an uncontracted player selection from the Western Bulldogs as one of the GIANTS’ first marquee players.

He was just 21-years-old and had played 60 AFL games. With a little hesitation on his part, he was also named one of the GIANTS’ three inaugural co-captains.

Fast forward just over five years and Ward is now one of the most respected and revered leaders in the game and has become one of the club’s most consistent and courageous players.

This Sunday against Port Adelaide he also becomes the first GIANT to play 100 games for the club after playing 99 of the 104 games in the club’s history.

Over the journey he’s never played less than 20 games a season - a remarkable feat considering the club is yet to make their first finals series - and averaged 23 or more possessions a season.

Back in 2012, Ward became the inaugural winner of the GIANTS’ Kevin Sheedy Medal for club champion.

In the club’s first season - in which they won two games - the then 22-year-old played 20 games and averaged more than 24 touches a match.

He also went into the history books after kicking the club’s first-ever goal in the AFL during the round one clash against the Sydney Swans at ANZ Stadium.

In just his third game for the new club he picked up 36 touches in a big loss to the West Coast Eagles at Blacktown.

Twice that season Ward picked up two Brownlow votes; in the round 19 win over Port Adelaide with 29 touches and eight tackles, and two rounds later in the final game of the year against North Melbourne for 30 touches and 10 inside-50s.

Coming into his second season at the GIANTS in 2013 - a year in which the club won just one game - Ward continued his consistent streak, finishing just behind Jeremy Cameron in the Kevin Sheedy Medal.

He played 21 games - missing only the final game of the season - averaging more than 23 touches a game and picking up three Brownlow Medal votes in the GIANTS’ only win against Melbourne.

In that game he had 31 touches, seven inside-50s and kicked four goals.

Come 2014 - Ward’s third season at the club - he again finished in the top two in the Kevin Sheedy Medal, coming in equal-second place. 

His disposal average lifted to 24.9 touches across 20 games that season and four times he collected the maximum Brownlow votes to finish with 15 votes for the year.

Some of his standout games included 28 touches against St Kilda, 29 possessions and 13 tackles against Hawthorn and two consecutive weeks of 31 and 29 disposals as the GIANTS recorded their first ever back-to-back wins.

Ward took another step in 2015, finishing out of the top two in the Kevin Sheedy Medal for the first time but lifting his disposal average to 25.3 as he played every game of the season.

While securing third-place in the Kevin Sheedy Medal - meaning he’s never finished out of the top three in each of the GIANTS’ four seasons in the competition - Ward also capped off another consistent season with a career-best finish in the 2015 Brownlow Medal.

He polled in nine of his 22 games to finish equal eighth, was given best on ground honours on four separate occasions and was the highest polling AFL club captain.

Ward ended the season averaging 25 touches, four marks and five tackles a game.

In 2016 Ward has celebrated his 150th AFL game, re-signed with the club for a further five years and now gets set to make history again.

It’s another remarkable season from the co-captain, averaging 24.9 disposals in his 17 games for the year, another season in which he hasn’t missed a game.

Against the Western Bulldogs in round nine Ward led from the front with 30 touches, 11 tackles and eight marks.

He did the same last weekend against the Lions, arguably best on ground with 31 disposals, nine inside 50s and three goals.

In 99 games for the club Callan Ward has shown his leadership, courage and inspiration in spades and with the co-captain contracted until at least the end of 2021, there’s plenty more to come.