LATE 2006 and Jarryn Geary suffers a broken arm playing for the Bendigo Pioneers.
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It rules him out for the rest of the TAC Cup season.
Geary’s response to the setback showed his then coach Mark Ellis that the unheralded boy from the Borough would make it one day.
“Jarryn was shattered when he broke his arm,’’ Ellis said.
“It was a testament to him to how he handled it.
“Over that time he worked very hard from a training point of view with Joel Selwood.
“Joel was injured at the time as well and they lent on each other a bit and it drove Jarryn pretty hard.
“Jarryn just had this inner drive to want to succeed and it’s terrific to see him do what he’s done.”
Saturday afternoon at the MCG against Hawthorn, Geary will play his 100th AFL game for St Kilda.
Just like his broken arm with the Pioneers, Geary has been forced to overcome adversity.
He was selected by the Saints with pick 58 of the 2007 rookie draft – the sixth last player to be named.
After playing most of the home and away games in 2009 and 2010, Geary was an emergency for all three of the grand finals the Saints played in those two seasons.
In 2011, Geary suffered a broken leg, while in 2012 he had a facial injury which resulted in him having to wear a helmet.
It didn’t stop him from finishing sixth in the Saints best and fairest award that year.
Last year he finished fourth.
His professionalism hasn't been lost on his team-mates - he's now in the St Kilda leadership group and is touted as a possible future replacement for Nick Riewoldt as club captain.
Geary, 25, has graduated from a stopping defender in the mould of his former team-mate Steven Baker, to be part of the Saints' midfield rotation.
“He’s got terrific character,’’ Ellis, who is now coach of Victoria Country's under-18 squad, said of Geary.
“I know he’s very well respected by everyone at St Kilda.
“From the day he went down there, he’s done things the hard way.
“Aside from his mental attributes, he’s a very good footballer.
“You don’t play 100 games in the AFL if you’re not a very good player.”