Greater Western Sydney star Callan Ward won’t return from a knee reconstruction in Round 1, but the former skipper is aiming to play in the first month of the season.

The 29-year-old hasn’t played since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Geelong in Round 4 last year – his only appearance of 2019.

Ward begun contact training with the coaching staff in the past month and is set to transition back into the main group in the next few weeks.

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Round 18

The moment Callan Ward’s season was ended last year. Source: AAP

The inside midfielder needs to be given the green light by Canberra-based biomechanical analysis practice Pitch Ready before he can start a six-week training block ahead of his long-awaited return to the game.

Ward has spent time working with two world renowned experts in the northern hemisphere since his knee buckled beneath him at GMHBA Stadium last April.

He visited Irish physiotherapist Enda King in Dublin, who is well known in Gaelic Football and football circles, and American reconditioning expert Bill Knowles in Philadelphia, who has helped Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Andy Murray, Alex Rodriguez, Jonny Wilkinson and many others get back on the park.

Now the man who has played more games – 157 – than any other player in the history of the Giants is closing in on a return.

Callan Ward in tears on the bench after injuring his knee against Geelong. Pic: Michael Klein. Source: News Corp Australia



“It is starting to feel 100 per cent now,” Ward told foxsports.com.au on Friday.

“If I tick off Canberra I will have a six-week training block after that before I can play.

“I’m probably aiming for the first month of the season. It won’t be Round 1 like I was hoping but it is tracking well.”

Josh Kelly talks with Callan Ward. Picture. Phil Hillyard Source: News Corp Australia

Ward was one of the first players to sign with the AFL’s newest franchise ahead of the Giants’ inception in 2012, but he was forced to watch on from afar as Leon Cameron’s team won three do-or-die finals to reach their first Grand Final last September.

“I was jealous more than anything. The whole build up was awesome and it was something that I want to be a part of every year,” he said.

“If I did think deeply about it, given I’d been there for so long and played the most games for the club, I did get a bit upset and frustrated but I just didn’t allow myself to think that deeply about it.

“I accepted when I did my knee early in the year that that was the way it was. I had the whole season to accept it.”

Stephen Coniglio announced as the new stand alone captain for the GWS Giants. Source: News Corp Australia



A few things have changed at Greater Western Sydney since the last time Ward played. Jason McCartney has replaced Wayne Campbell as head of football. Stephen Coniglio and Lachie Whitfield have inked mega seven-year deals. And there has been a changing of the guard.

For the first time in the history of the club there is a sole captain. And it is one of Ward’s closest mates, Coniglio, who turned his back on a godfather offer from Carlton to remain loyal to Greater Western Sydney.

“He has definitely been ready for it for a while. Phil andI always knew there would be a time when someone would be ready to step up, and I have known for a long time that it would be ‘Cogs’,” he said.

“I’m really close mates and I love playing with him and I love the guy as a person, too. He has the respect of the whole playing group, the whole club and the whole competition.

“Ever since he walked in the door he has been a leader; the way he treats people; the way he goes about it; he pretty much earned his respect in his first week at the club by the way he treated people.

“It is important that you’re not a stock standard leader and he thinks outside the box and comes up with different ideas to the normal person. He sets the standard with his professionalism and the way he goes about it.”

Cooper Cronk and Leon Cameron inside GIANTS HQ. Picture: Toby Zerna Source: News Corp Australia

Another new face in the leadership team is rugby league legend Cooper Cronk.

The four-time Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters premiership halfback the club over the pre-season as a leadership consultant and has helped the Giants navigate the pain of last year’s Grand Final belting.

Ward has caught up with Cronk for a few coffees over the summer and will work closely with the two-time Dally M Medal winner and Coniglio during 2020.

For now, Ward and his wife Ruby are busy at home following the arrival of their first baby, Romeo.

But before long, Ward will be back getting busy in around stoppages around the country.