You won't find many more respected people at the GIANTS than Xavier O'Halloran, who on Sunday will celebrate his 100th AFL game when the club takes on the Bombers at Marvel Stadium. 

Selected with pick No. 22 in the 2018 AFL Draft, O'Halloran has built his career on toughness, versatility and an unwavering commitment to the team. 

While he may not wear an official leadership title, the 26-year-old has become one of the club's most trusted figures, earning enormous respect from teammates and coaches alike across his eight seasons in orange and charcoal. 

Few know O'Halloran's journey better than former GIANTS co-captain Callan Ward who played alongside the midfielder for many of his 99 games to date.  

Ward laughed as he recalled O'Halloran's arrival at the GIANTS as an enthusiastic first-year player in late 2018. 

"When he came into the club, he was quite... I don't know how to say it... confident. Maybe even overconfident," Ward laughed. 

"That was probably just the perception, but for a first-year player he was quite quirky and it probably took the boys a little while to get to know him and get used to that." 

While O'Halloran's personality may have stood out early, Ward said his leadership qualities and work ethic quickly became impossible to ignore. 

"He was always a guy who had really good leadership ability and really good energy around the group," he said. 

"In the end, he's become one of the most popular teammates at the club. He's a really great guy with a great family, good values and he's always worked extremely hard. So far, he's had a great career." 

Ward said O'Halloran's willingness to sacrifice for the team has become one of his defining traits. 

"He's always the first to play the team role. If there's anything that's part of our structures, he'll never, ever go outside of it. He'll always do the team-first thing," Ward said. 

"He's one of my favourite teammates that I've played with and just a guy that everyone he's played with trusts." 

Despite reaching the significant 100-game milestone, Ward believes O'Halloran would prefer the attention remain elsewhere. 

"He's extremely selfless and does play the team-first role, so I don't think he loves the attention, to be honest," Ward said. 

"He doesn't like everything being about him. He's happy to go under the radar and let other people do the talking." 

Ward believes the milestone comes at an exciting stage of O'Halloran's career. 

"He's played some really good footy this year. Obviously, he got hurt and missed about 10 weeks, but before that he was going really, really well," he said. 

"He's always been a really good player, and I still think he's building. I think he'll be a great player." 

The respect O'Halloran has earned among his teammates is equally shared by the coaching staff. 

GIANTS Assistant Coach Craig Jennings said O'Halloran's influence extends far beyond what is seen on game day. 

"The thing that stands out with Xavier within the football club is the standing and the respect his teammates have for him," Jennings said. 

"He doesn't have a leadership title at the football club, but I can tell you from first-hand experience he is a leader both within the midfield group and for the broader team." 

Having worked closely with O'Halloran since arriving at the club, Jennings has watched his game evolve into one of the side’s most versatile players.  

"I have seen Xavier really develop and adjust his game as his midfield coach and he's just an incredibly versatile player within the team," he said. 

"He can play in multiple positions, including inside midfield, wing and forward. He gives the coaching team great flexibility on game day to throw different combinations at the opposition." 

Jennings said O'Halloran's willingness to put the team first has been a defining trait throughout his career. 

"One of the things that I love about coaching Xavier is his honesty and integrity," Jennings said. 

"He gives and receives feedback as good as anyone I have seen in my time in the game. 

"Xavier is a player that always helps make his teammates better. He will play team-first roles and rarely, if ever, strays from our system and game style." 

That reliability has also made him a valuable conduit between the coaches' box and the players during matches. 

"He is a player on game day that 'Crippa' (stoppage coach Wayne Cripps) and myself can always rely on to deliver any strong messages his fellow midfielders need to hear," Jennings said. 

"What I love about him is his ability to stay calm on match day. I can pick the phone up in the box and speak with him on the bench and have very specific conversations about what Crippa and I need from him and the midfield team collectively, and he can both understand the details and deliver it to his teammates in the manner required." 

O'Halloran's football intelligence has also made him one of the club's best teachers. 

"Xavier is one of our players that I often call upon when I want a game style or system teaching edit shown," Jennings said. 

"His ability to explain complex information in an easy-to-understand manner to his teammates is in the top few per cent at the football club. 

"Xavier is highly coachable. He has a great balance of knowing when we need to be all business in the football sense and when to have a laugh." 

For Jennings, Sunday's milestone also represents the culmination of a relationship that has developed over the past five seasons. 

"Xavier and I have a close coach-player relationship," Jennings said. 

"When I arrived he had just completed his second season, with less than 20 games under his belt. It has been my privilege to work with him over the last five years and it will give me great pleasure to see him run through the banner for his 100th game." 

Often happy to let others take the spotlight, O'Halloran has quietly become one of the GIANTS' most dependable contributors. On Sunday at Marvel Stadium, the selfless midfielder will receive some well-deserved recognition as he reaches 100 games of AFL football.