While it is Taylor Swift’s ballad ‘Wildest Dreams’ that will be one of many that echoes around the MCG this weekend, across the road at the AIA Vitality Centre, a new duo’s own improbable dreams are playing out right in front of their own eyes.
While Lachie Sullivan and Jack Bytel didn’t know a hastily formed pop culture reference would form the basis of a metaphor for their SSP selection at start of this week, they also didn’t know they would be joining each other on the Club’s playing list for the 2024 season.
And despite all of their hopes and dreams, for much of their two months spent trialling and training at the Club together, they didn’t believe it was possible.
First convening in early December when Sullivan, a late invitee to the SSP-list, arrived as the last of six players to trial for a spot, the pair quickly formed a bond.
But as Sullivan recalls, it could’ve been easy for his midfield compatriot, Bytel, to cast him aside as a mere competitor – but that was anything but the case.
“I came in a couple of weeks later and Jack probably could’ve thought ‘who is this bloke, he’s a midfielder, that’ll go against me’,” Sullivan said.
“But he was so good to me from the first engagement we had and we started to help each other out through it and had a bond.
“We’d always discuss that ‘‘it’s not going to be both of us because we’re both midfielders’, but then we were like ‘imagine if it was’.
“We couldn’t believe it. We called each other when we both found out the news and it was pretty awesome for him to get in too because we’ve been pretty tight in the last couple of months helping each other out.”
Bytel echoed Sullivan’s thoughts, agreeing that no matter the outcome, he would’ve reflected on the experience as one of the best in his life.
“It’s so cool to be here with Lachie, but even all of us SSP boys, that’s a cool group of six that will stay in contact forever,” Bytel said.
“Each of them are such a good people so I was going to be happy for whoever got in even if I didn’t.
“The bonds have been pretty special, everyone was helping each other out and wanting the best for each other.”
So, now their journeys will be intertwined forever.
But having only crossed paths less than three months ago, both have had personal adversity to reach this point.
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Having won the TAC Cup premiership with the Oakleigh Chargers in 2015, Sullivan has been eligible for eight national drafts and a few mid-season versions in-between.
But unfortunately for the now 26-year-old, he never got the call up.
For five, he thought he was a genuine chance of landing his maiden AFL contract, not least of which in last November’s Draft after back-to-back Footscray VFL Best & Fairest triumphs.
“It’s overwhelming because after the most recent draft I thought I was done and it wasn’t going to happen,” he said.
“It’s been all up about nine drafts and in five I thought I was a chance.
“After the last draft, I thought I was done and then got a call a week later to come down and train with Collingwood and it’s the best opportunity I’ve ever had. I’m just so grateful.
“Wrighty (Graham Wright) called me yesterday and he didn’t beat around the bush, he told me straight away and it was one of the best calls of my life, I’m not used to getting such good news calls.”
A full-time Sparky as of last December, the news meant the midfielder had to tell his boss he wouldn’t be coming to work on Friday – or all year for that matter.
But he said it offered the pair to reflect on their years together, with the introspection allowing him to realise the enormity of his achievement.
“I’ve been here for about two months, so he’s (Sullivan’s boss) always known it’s been a possibility,” he said.
“I told him we’d probably find out this week, but he is the best boss in the world, he’s the nicest bloke and he was so stoked for me.
“It was pretty good telling him because we were just talking about all the tough times, and it is pretty tough, playing full-time VFL and being on the tools.
“It’s pretty hard doing it for five or six years and we were just reminiscing about everything and where I am now.”
For Bytel, his journey has been somewhat more conventional, but no less imbued with resilience.
Touted as one of the top players in the 2018 AFL Draft, the midfielder suffered a debilitating back injury that saw him slip to pick 41, while injuries continued to hamper him throughout his 22-game AFL career with the St Kilda.
And having been delisted by the Saints last September, the 23-year-old admitted footy had begun to slip in his life hierarchy.
“There was a fair moment where I was pretty done with footy, not to retire, but I was fairly sick of it and probably fell out of love for a little bit,” he said.
“With the circumstances I was in, I loved my time at the Saints and still keep in contact with a lot of people there, but mentally I was pretty zapped.
“I did my certificate three in carpentry and basically ticked off my apprenticeship while I was in the system, so I had something ready to go and was just going to be on the tools which I loved.
“I think the perspective from being delisted that I got was good and I knew whatever the result was, I was happy.”
But as he took off for a trip to Europe during last October, in the back of his mind was the potential for a second chance.
Needing to both switch off mentally, but stay ready physically, Bytel said he developed a mentality that stuck with him throughout his SSP trial.
“I went Europe and there were times where I was like ‘I’ve just been delisted, I just want to have a mental break,” he said.
“But I also physically wanted to be ready and kept training and there were times I was doing tough running by myself in Europe and I was like ‘I don’t have to be doing this’, but I knew if an opportunity came I was ready to step straight in.
“Looking back on that it was a pretty proud moment for me. Getting delisted is never easy but I never threw in the towel.”
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Now Collingwood players full-time, both Sullivan and Bytel have reflected on some full circle moments that have made the journey all the more special.
For Sullivan, re-connecting with old school mate and Oakleigh Chargers teammate Jordan De Goey was something he never thought he’d get the opportunity to do.
“It’s pretty wild how it all comes around, I never would’ve thought I’d be playing with Jordy again,” he said.
“As soon as he was deep in his career, I never thought I would get that opportunity so it’s pretty wild to be playing with him.
“I had two years at school with him and I probably played a game with Darcy Moore at Oakleigh as well.
“The full circle element of it to at 26 be playing with him when the last time I played with him was about 10 years ago is crazy.”
Sullivan is adamant the familiar faces of De Goey and Moore helped him settle in, and Bytel too, with the former Saint coming into the club with existing relationships with two Pies stars.
“I went through the AFL academy in juniors, and I went to South Africa when I was 15 with Bobby Hill and then me and Q (Isaac Quaynor) as well as Bobby were in the academy,” he said.
“I was the same draft so Q and Bobby and they were the two I was pretty close with and I’ve roomed with both of them; Q in LA and Bobby in South Africa, so we had a good relationship which was nice.
“The boys I didn’t know, they get to know you straight away as well.”
In thinking back to his draft year, Bytel remembered his previous interactions with Collingwood and people involved in the Club, ultimately the invisible strings that led him to the list in 2024.
“I actually had a meeting here, I don’t think I had my license at the time, but I came in when I was 17 in my draft year and had to catch the train in and met the recruiters,” he said.
“Back then there was a little bit of interest and I met with them, but obviously went to the Saints.
“But there was actually a funny moment I was thinking about yesterday, the first week of finals last year at the Saints, we had a practice match against the Pies boys.
“We played and it was really fun and hand on heart, the words I said to one of my Saints teammates was ‘far out, they look like they’re having so much fun, I’d love to get to that club’.
“I sort of knew I was either going to change clubs or be out of St Kilda and I said to one of my mates ‘gee, I would love to go to this club’.
“That was the likes of Joey Richards and Reef McInnes and they just looked like they were having so much fun and just thought it was so cool and now I look at it and am like ‘far out, what I said is true’.”
For both, their overwhelming sense of pride is in their own resilience, and gratitude for their family’s support.
At 26 years of age, Sullivan’s story of perseverance is one he won’t lose sight of as he now fights for his first game at the highest level.
“It’s been crazy, from when I first found out I just initially told the family and telling them the news after such a long journey was amazing and then when people found out, the messages have been crazy,” he said.
“It’s pretty overwhelming the amount of messages and the people who follow your journey. I guess it makes you pretty proud to achieve this and get a contract.
“Hopefully I can keep going and play a game is the next goal.”
And for Bytel:
“You can say it’s luck or whatever, but I appreciate all the people that have one, reached out, but personally for me the biggest bit of happiness I’ve got is from making the phone call to my partner and my Mum and Dad,” he said.
“They ride every bump and people probably don’t realise how much the people so close to you ride the ups and downs.
“Seeing how happy my partner was and she was just bawling her eyes out and she rides the highs and lows.
“I’ve had my journey and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
