At the age of 22 and still yet to make his AFL debut, Callum Bartlett has already survived the same career threatening injury twice.

But rather than diminish his stubborn desire to play in the AFL, the two knee reconstructions Callum suffered in 2009 and 2011 have only further showcased how driven the Geelong Falcon junior is.

“I never thought I’d have to give it up, not at all, I’m pretty stubborn and determined. I wanted to get back, giving up wasn’t in my mindset at all, “ Bartlett told lions.com.au.

“It was pretty frustrating though. The second one was worse than the first and I had a few setbacks in rehab. Doing one already I knew what I needed to do though, so it was a little bit easier but still incredibly frustrating.” he said.

Bartlett credits his mother as being the crucial support that got him through the exasperating knee injuries and also as his biggest inspiration.

“My mother showed huge support through those years and I owe her a lot,”

“She got me to and from footy back in the day, she still lives in Victoria and travels up and down to all the games.” he said.

In another twist in the rollercoaster of high’s and lows of professional football, Bartlett was widely tipped to finally make his senior debut earlier this year before suffering a broken jaw playing for the Lions high flying NEAFL reserves side.

Despite this cruel setback Bartlett believes that he is continuing to get closer and closer to that elusive senior guernsey and says the club is doing a great job communicating with him about his progress.

“I’ve definitely chased up the question, for me there’s a few things I need to work on. My inside stuff is pretty good but I’ve got to get better at my outside spread and my defensive running. So I’m trying to give myself every chance” he says.

“If I was playing in the seniors I imagine I’d play as a small forward,”

The role I’d want to be playing is like an Ash McGrath, Josh Green or Dayne Zorko role I suppose because I’ve been modeling my game on what they are doing.”

The highly rated young player was delisted by the Lions in November last year but was redrafted as a rookie the next month; a situation that Bartlett maintains was never a guaranteed deal.

“It wasn’t guaranteed, you never know, I had a feeling I had a chance but when you go back into the draft you have a chance of being picked up by someone else.

“I didn’t have any intention of leaving Brisbane though,” He said.

As Bartlett continues to curate his game in the NEAFL, the Lions Reserves are reaping the rewards, the defending premiers currently sitting first on the Northern conference ladder, having only lost one game after fourteen rounds.


Photo courteous Steve Ripper

However Bartlett, a returning key member of last year’s premiership side, remains reassuringly grounded about the year’s prospects.

“We are going pretty well, we dropped a game but generally we are getting the game plan done,”

“We still haven’t put together a full game yet, we are playing well for a quarter or two which is getting us through but we need to fix that closer to the end of the season.” he said.

In another sign of Bartlett’s pure fervor as a football player he confirms that the Reserves have every intention to bring home a second straight flag.

“The Reserves are a lot about trying to develop each other, but at the end of the day we are all competitors and we are never looking to lose a game when we go out and play,” he said.

“If that means we win a premiership or making finals or whatever develops the boys, then so be it.”

It’s this cultivation of a winning culture in the Reserves that Bartlett reckons the Brisbane Lions will benefit from into the future.

“It’s about building a winning mindset for the club and it starts with the young blokes who will be here hopefully for the next ten years,” he said.

“If they get a taste of what winning feels like at a reserves level, when they play at seniors level they know how good it feels and they aren’t used to losing, so to speak.”

When asked about the senior side’s prospects, it’s already evident that the Reserves have the clubs young players brimming with confidence.

“We’ve definitely made some progress this year in the seniors, we hold ourselves in good stead for the next couple of years if the boys stay around and we keep signing these players like Daniel Rich, Matthew Leuenberger and Sam Mayes.” he said.

For Bartlett though, it always comes back to what he came to Brisbane for, a shot at the AFL.

“I’ve got the exact same goals and ambitions since I got drafted because I haven’t got any runs on the board, I’m still trying to get that AFL game.”

Somehow, one suspects he might just get his wish.