The closest Callan Ward has come to an AFL premiership is watching helplessly as Richmond tore his GWS teammates apart in the 2019 grand final.
It's no shock that as the 31-year-old prepares for his 250th game - also against the Tigers at the MCG - he has one giant goal left in his playing career.
"I'm not satisfied at all, no. Obviously we all play for premierships, for team success," the midfielder said.
"Every year I watch teams play in the grand final and I think 'I wish that was me,' so bad.
"I'm 15 years in now and I guess the main reason for coming to the Giants was I was confident we could play in a premiership - I still am.
"But until I can win a premiership, I definitely won't be satisfied."
Ward was recovering from the knee reconstruction that ruined his 2019 season when he watched Richmond restrict the Giants to just three goals in perfect conditions and win the grand final by 89 points.
The Giants are perennial finalists, but the expansion team hasn't quite been able to give itself another shot at a flag.
It's not for want of trying, especially from the former GWS co-captain.
After only managing seven games in 2020, he played 24 last season to prove the doubters wrong.
"Externally, I probably got questioned a little bit, so it's always good when you come back and play some good football," he said.
Ward said former Essendon great James Hird, who is with the Giants as a part-time mentor, has had a significant impact on their mindset as they aim for their first flag.
"Everything we do, right now, every training session we have and every meeting we have is based on playing on grand-final day and winning on grand-final day," he said.
"It's the ultimate achievement ... it's something I think about a lot, something I dream about.
"He (Hird) speaks a lot about being world class, training world class, preparing for a grand final - that's how you should go about every session.
"So when I speak about consistency, a lot of that comes from Hirdy because when he was at his best his consistency was so good he was unstoppable."
For all the craving about that elusive flag, Ward admits to satisfaction about reaching 250 games.
"AFL is so hard and that's why playing 250 games is a big thing for me because you know how hard it is to play one game, let alone 250 of them," he said.
Ward is the Giants' games record holder with 189 and also played 60 for the Western Bulldogs before joining the expansion club as one of its foundation players.
