Greater Western Sydney Giants midfielder Jye Caldwell has always loved footy.
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However, he didn't realise how much it meant to him until it was taken away from him.
For the majority of his life, Caldwell has always had a game of footy to look forward to on a weekend.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken footy away from the former Golden Square and Bendigo Pioneers player for the time being and he admitted the inability to even have a kick of the Sherrin with his mates was frustrating.
"I'd probably taken footy for granted, to be honest,'' the 19-year-old said.
"You just get used to being in a routine of training through the week and playing each weekend.
"Now that it's been taken away from me...the game has probably grown on me even more.
"I miss it. It's hard not knowing when we're going to be able to get back into it."
Once the AFL made the decision to suspend football until at least May 31, Caldwell drove from Sydney to Bendigo to base himself with his parents.
"It's been nice to be back at home while this is going on,'' he said.
"I think Mum and Dad like having me home. I'm not driving them mad yet."
Aside from helping his father, Rod, around their hobby farm, catching up on some TV series and the odd stint in the kitchen cooking, Caldwell fills in the time maintaining his fitness.
"The club has given me lots of training to do,'' he said.
"I have some running sessions to do by myself. I've got a little gym set up at home for three or four weights sessions a week and I have some pilates to do.
"We have two conference calls we do each week. We have a players call that we do on Tuesday and then an all-team discussion each Friday where we talk about how everyone is going and that sort of thing.
"As players we keep in contact via messages and we play PS4 against each other."
Read more: Jye Caldwell's path to the AFL Draft
After an injury interrupted rookie season with the Giants in 2019 that restricted him to two senior games, Caldwell had primed himself for a big 2020.
"I had a pretty good pre-season and did the majority of it,'' he said.
"I'm feeling really good which is a bit different to the past couple of years."
He missed selection in the Giants impressive round one win over Geelong.
Breaking into the Giants' midfield group is a tough ask.
"You just have to put your best foot forward,'' Caldwell said.
"I really like that we have such a good midfield because you really have to earn your games. It puts pressure on you to play well. No-one gets gifted games."
Read more: Caldwell makes AFL debut in the snow
Caldwell said the Giants' disappointing performance in the 2019 grand final was put to bed early in the pre-season.
"We had a group discussion about it (the grand final) and we decided we wanted to put it behind us,'' he said.
"The focus was learning from it and making sure we improve. 2020 is a new year."
Caldwell is using one of his team-mates for motivation in 2020.
"I like the way Tim Taranto has gone about it,'' he said.
"In his third year he won the best and fairest. He's a great midfielder and he's only going to get better over the next few years."
While he's enjoying spending time with his family, Caldwell was itching to get back to Drummoyne in Sydney where he shares a house with GWS team-mates Xavier O'Halloran and Connor Idun.
"I like living in Sydney. There's plenty to do and the beaches are not far away,'' Caldwell said.
"Only bad thing is the traffic. The traffic gets pretty bad at times."
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