SPROULE GRABS HIS LIFELINE

ZACH Sproule will never be mistaken for a mathematician.

Sproule crunched the numbers after last year’s national draft and thought there were no list spots left at the Giants, given he knew they had promised to redraft Sam Reid as a rookie.

Delisted after one senior game in four seasons and none in 2020, the 23-yearold thought his AFL journey was over.

Sproule was even reluctant to answer his phone when GWS football

boss Jason McCartney rang him on the morning of last year’s rookie draft.

He’s glad now he took that call, in which McCartney told him they were throwing him a lifeline, in part on the “good guy” factor. Sproule’s just played his fourthstraight match – all of them wins – including kicking two 50m-plus goals in Saturday’s one-point elimination final defeat of the Swans.

“When (McCartney) gave me the news I was going to hang around, I was nearly in tears. It was unreal,” he said.

“From that day forward, I said I would leave no stone

unturned with everything I do, and I’m finally starting to see some reward.

“I’ve played only four games in a row and I’d like to make a serious career for myself, so there’s a long way to go, but I’m happy to be playing a role in this team’s success.”

The Giants’ season, and Sproule’s career, dramatically changed trajectory on the first Friday night in August with a famous upset of Geelong. He was one of eight inclusions that night for an injury-ravaged GWS line-up that was then barely clinging on in the finals race.