It's one of the more endearing images of the AFL season so far.
The embrace from Lachie Whitfield for a crestfallen Callan Ward as he lay helpless in the hands of the trainers on Saturday afternoon, knowing that his illustrious career was almost certainly over courtesy of a torn ACL.
Whitfield's emotion summed up just where many of GIANTS players heads were at, in that moment, with the plight of their games record holder, rather than on the contest being played out in front of them.
And if not for a Ward intervention at the three-quarter time huddle, who knows if they'd have clawed back Richmond's six-goal lead and avoided one of the upsets of the season.
Two days on, Whitfield and the GIANTS are still coming to grips with losing the on-field influence of one of the most important figures in their club's history.
"It's heartbreaking not only for Cal but the whole footy club. He's been an integral part of our culture since its inception so to see him go down like that it's really heartbreaking," Whitfield said.
"He and Phil (Davis) did a great job early on taking 18, 19-year-olds under their wing and showing them how to live so it's a pretty crappy way to finish it all for him."
Ward is back in Melbourne, being comforted by his family who he agreed to live away from for one year in order to pursue the ultimate goal of an inaugural GIANTS flag.
While he will not be part of that glory, whenever it does occur, he's said to be in good spirits and likely comforted by his role in helping his team get over the line against Richmond with his speech before the final change.
"We were obviously playing some pretty poor footy. He spoke to us in a forthright way, with a lot of energy and care and just asked us to be reliable to one another and put our head over the ball. We owed a bit to him and were able to turn it around and play a better brand of footy," Whitfield said.
"I spoke to him briefly yesterday and he's really positive. I couldn't believe the mindset he's got which shows the kind of person he is. It's just sad really."
Once the dust settles on Ward's future and he confirms what seems to be the inevitable end to his illustrious 327-game career, including 14 seasons as an inaugural GIANT, he will no doubt form a large part of the club's premiership motivation for the rest of the season.
"He'll have a pretty big role to play for the rest of the year, he won't just slip off into the distance, he'll still be here. He'll try and make us a better team for the rest of the year, it's the kind of bloke he is," Whitfield said.
Those chances have been boosted by back-to-back wins for the first time since round five which was due in no small part to the huge performance from Lachie Ash across half-back with 36 disposals.
The 23-year-old has mounted a compelling All-Australian case across the first half of the season and his long-time partner in crime in defence is enjoying it as much as anyone.
"I'm super proud of the way he's playing at the moment, he's been brewing to this level for a couple of years now," Whitfield said.
"He's just a hard worker and it's really good to see him playing some really good footy. He's a really important player for us at the moment. To be able to move the ball fast off half-back is how we want to play and he's really pivotal with that."
