‘We’re manifesting this, I’m getting back this year and I’m playing some good footy towards the end of the year’.

When blue skies and an opportunity to start afresh greeted Dan McStay on the first day of summer last year, things looked on the up.

His beginning to life at Collingwood hadn’t been easy to say the least. A finger injury kept him out for three months of his first season in black and white, before an MCL tear suffered in the Preliminary Final heartbreakingly ruled him out of the decider.

But after all the emotion and pain of those moments, a new opportunity had arrived.

The 2024 pre-season clicked into gear on that December One morning as a determined McStay eagerly got into his work having only just recovered from the aforementioned MCL injury.

But as has been well documented, that training session ended in unfortunate circumstances too.

Numb, shocked, yet cognisant from the outset that it was an even more severe injury this time, McStay’s 2024 season appeared over before it even started.

But not according to the man himself.

“I didn’t really believe it initially and when I went home, I think I was just in shock, whereas my partner Kelly, she was just hysterical,” McStay reflected ahead of his AFL return.

“My Dad actually finished work and he came over and they were just crying in my arms and I was the one trying to console them.

“I grabbed Kelly and I took her outside and I said ‘we’re manifesting this, I’m getting back this year and I’m playing some good footy towards the end of the year’.

“That was like the third of second of December that I had the mentality.”

No complaints, only a small dose of self-pity, and a fierce desire to get back to the top level. That’s what has defined McStay in the eight months since his injury.

Even going back to when he hurt his knee in the penultimate game of 2023, that positivity shone through, as he reflected on a Grand Final week he could so easily have chosen to forego.

“I’d been in five finals series with Brisbane but I didn’t realise what it was like to actually win one,” he said.

“We had a meeting the next morning about the Granny and everything that was on that week and I wanted to make sure I was there and showed I was still a positive figure.

“A lot of blokes said to me ‘I would not have been here if I was you’ and I was like ‘nah I’ve never been part of a premiership week, so I just really wanted to soak it all in as much as possible’.”

There’s no doubting the ability to park his own personal tough times during Grand Final week last year aided his ability to get on with his ACL rehab so quickly a few months later.

But despite coming back in remarkable time, the road hasn’t been without its challenges.

Spending more time with a band around his knee or on a balance beam than with a football in his hand over the first half of 2024, McStay knows better than most how lonely of a place rehab can be.

“It was probably one of the hardest periods of my life, but I’m looking forward to getting back into it and giving it everything I’ve got,” he said.

“The early mornings, the hours in the gym by myself or in here (gymnastics centre), they’re the cool moments where you’re putting a lot of hard work in.

“A lot of people just see a little bit of your field work or a little bit of your gym work, but they don’t see the full picture of the rehab.

“Some of the things I’ve been able to achieve in a pretty short amount of time, I’ve been really lucky that I’ve had a medical group and high performance team that’s been really transparent with the surgeon 

“They were big on ‘we’re going to keep pushing you and we’re not limiting you to a timeframe’.

“All I really want to do this year is just play some more footy, play at the highest level again, play at the MCG in front of big crowds. That’s what I’m aiming for, and that’s what I’m hoping to do in 2024.”

McStay needs to hope no more, with the 195cm key forward in for his first AFL game in 302 days on Saturday afternoon against Hawthorn.

“I’ve done a heap of work, a lot of time in the gym, a lot of time on field, a lot of PBs,” he said.

“I’m probably fitter and stronger than I’ve ever been so I’m just ready to showcase that.

 “The Pies have definitely changed my perspective on how important it is to let the most important people in our lives into the inner sanctum.

“It’s such a strong environment that they’re trying to build and I’ve loved every moment of bringing those that are closest to me along for the ride.

“I just can’t wait to play out here (the MCG) again.”