Still, it brought with it some stress. Boyd knew what it would mean to ask for a trade, as the Giants' No.1 draft pick less than 12 months earlier. He understood the club would be unhappy with him, "because I was the one to put them in a difficult position". In one way, Boyd was glad he was so far away, because he has a tendency to want all the information he can get and would have been drawing conclusions after every conversation he took part in or heard about. At the same time, riding less frequent bumps was almost harder. When the Giants said they would refuse to trade him, Boyd believed them. When Pickering told him not to worry and that the deal would get done, he allowed himself to relax.

Before the trade went through, he sent messages to Giants coach Leon Cameron and chief executive David Matthews, feeling like he needed them to hear how he was feeling from him, rather than other people. "I felt the whole time like I'd just been a third party. My dad was dealing with them more than I had and I had never really put my own spin on it and had the chance to sit down and talk to them about what was going through my head and what I was thinking," he said. "I just reassured them that I'd taken my time and that the gravity of the situation wasn't lost on me. In the end it wasn't about them or the club, it was about the opportunity that was given to me."

There was more Boyd needed to think about. But becoming the young key forward the Bulldogs have searched so desperately for has never bothered him. It's what he wants to be, and he has always expected more of himself than anyone else has been able to. What was difficult was having his contract become so public, even though he understood that was also inevitable. It still feels a little awkward. "I do find it pretty hard to deal with. Mostly because it's not exactly right, people are guessing a bit, but when the same number keeps being published, then that makes it true in everyone's eyes and I appreciate that," said Boyd, who has heard all of the jokes, and been asked for loans from people he has never met before.

"It's like being called tall 100 times when you're a kid; you think, 'I haven't heard that one before.' But I have a very good group of friends who know it doesn't matter and would never talk about it, and that it would never affect me. What matters is being back home, and being around the people close to me and being lucky enough to do what every person wants, your dream job in the city you grew up in and want to live in. But it has been hard to get used to, because I think what happens is people can assume they know you and know what you're about and what matters to you. And what I am and what matters is that I'm a 19-year-old going into my second year who has a long way to go."

So far, so good. Walking into the Bulldogs has felt almost like getting started at the Giants, given all the young players at both clubs. That he knew a few of them before he got to Whitten Oval made it easier. Boyd is sharing a house with Richmond player Nick Vlastuin, seeing his dogs, spending time with people who don't play football and "feeling like a proper part of the family again, which is naturally a bit harder when you're living in another city and when the chances you do get to catch up are so rushed and don't last for very long".