Before he injured his ankle three years ago Leek Aleer loved playing footy but didn’t absolutely adore training hard, or pushing himself, or doing things that he knew would hurt.

Now, he looks forward to all of those things.
 
It took Aleer more than 15 months to recover from his horribly broken ankle, a long and frustrating process that tested him physically and emotionally, while making him 100% cent sure that an AFL career was something he desperately wanted to keep pursuing.
 
The defender – the GIANTS’ second pick in last November’s national draft – tells his story in the second episode of the Becoming GIANT podcast, chatting with club recruiter Emma Quayle.
 
Aleer chats about his childhood in Egypt, his move to Australia as a five-year-old and the influence his mother Tabitha has had on his determination to chase his footy dreams.
 
He also talks about his move into the backline at Central District in the SANFL, a move that brought about the best football he has ever played and helped get him drafted.
 
Before that, he says, the injury - and the effort it took to overcome it - changed him.
 
“It made me understand how fortunate I was prior to that injury, for the opportunities I was getting and the fact I was able to train as hard as I could and be able to jump and mark and tackle and sprint and do all those aspects of footy and everyday life,” Aleer says.
 
“That hunger was what really started to arise within me: after that injury I realised that nothing besides hard work and determination was going to get me out of that injury slump I had for that extended period of time.
 
“I knew deep down within myself that if I could get back to playing footy I wanted to play at that high level again without the worry of getting hurt, or a lack of confidence really.
 
“I knew I had to develop emotionally and kind of grow up so I could be able to withstand anything beyond that injury.
 
“Where I wanted to go was a place where you need to really grind and work your backside off, because if you want to be the best you’re going to have to work really hard to beat the person next to you or other people that may be competing against you.
 
“I knew that I wanted to play AFL footy and the only way I could get there was to continue pushing and have the hunger within myself to push myself be motivated to go through whatever pain was necessary to develop and grow and become the person I know I can be.”
 
Aleer is the second new GIANT to feature in this year’s Becoming GIANT series, after No. 3 pick Finn Callaghan, with defenders Josh Fahey and Cooper Hamilton to feature in the remaining episodes.