When Geelong headed into the 2016 draft without a first-round pick, not many would have expected them to come away with one of the best crops of players.
But a tap on the shoulder from one of the game's greatest ever defenders proved to be a pivotal moment, steering Geelong's recruiting team in the direction of a tough mature-ager playing local footy just down the road.
Tom Stewart featured in 82 games for South Barwon between 2010 and 2015, playing in a premiership under the tutelage of Matthew Scarlett before earning a chance with Geelong's VFL team.
A strong run of form and some dominant performances put him on the Cats' AFL radar, which led to his selection with pick 40 in the 2016 National Draft.
Sitting down with Zach Tuohy for an interview ahead of his 200th AFL game, Stewart said that he owes a lot to Scarlett for helping him to realise his AFL dream.
"[Scarlett] was probably the nudge right at the moment in time where I needed it, at the end of my South Barwon journey and into my VFL journey," Stewart said.
"It was funny last week we had our junior club nights and I ended up back at South, which I always tend to every year. You see some familiar faces and some old premiership teammates and again, it is just a nice moment to take stock and reflect on those along the journey.
"He found a little something inside of me that as I said, I didn't even believe I had in myself."
Stewart's journey was nothing short of spectacular, joining Geelong for his debut season in 2017 and then earning his first All-Australian blazer in 2018, going on to be selected in five All-Australian teams in just six years.
But if there was one thing that eluded the superstar defender and the Cats throughout that span, it was the ultimate success of a premiership.
From 2017 through to 2021, Stewart played in 11 Finals and Geelong were only victorious in four of them, reaching one Grand Final in 2020 and suffering defeat in the Covid-affected season.
But with all the heartache and the numerous close finishes, it did teach the champion defender and the Cats playing list to be resilient and persistent, always prepared to risk devastation for a crack at glory.
It ultimately paid off in 2022, as the Cats shook off a slow start to the year and stormed home with 13 consecutive victories to end the home and away season, claiming the minor premiership.
After narrowly escaping a big challenge from Collingwood in the Qualifying Final, Geelong dominated Brisbane in the Preliminary Final and thumped Sydney on the last Saturday of September.
Stewart and Tuohy discussed the build up to the big year at the club, with both players admitting there were times they thought it may never happen.
"I think the strength of this club and the strength of the people that we have had within the building for such a long period of time, is that we dust ourselves off and we give ourselves a chance to go again," Stewart said.
"I think all of us at moments, either fleeting or elongated, thought that it probably wasn't going to happen.
"I remember watching when you guys beat Port Adelaide in Round 19 that year, it wasn't Joel or Jez or Hawk that pulled up the boots. It was yourself, it was Tom Atkins, it was Gryan that got the job done for us. I think you ended up beating them by a couple of points, and I remember sitting there thinking that this is a special team.
"This is a team that hopefully I can come back into and have a positive impact on, but I didn't feel like I had to put the superman cape on to come back and save you guys. Every part was in sync, everything was working so well and everyone was executing their role.
"It wasn't probably what it had been in the past where it was five or six players getting the job done, it was 22 guys all in perfect unison and working towards a common goal. You talk about sweet spots, that was the absolute sweet spot."
