Even while navigating the pot-holed path of his early years as an AFL footballer, Kaiden Brand would return home to Berri each summer, slide effortlessly back into the company of family and friends, get “out on the river” and just be. If his various challenges were dogging him, his unfussed demeanour hid it well.

The sixth Christmas break since his 2012 drafting stands as a holiday watershed. For the first summer in his time as a Hawk Brand’s body was sound, bereft of the fresh scars of off-season surgery, primed only to rest and reload. If his mind drifted like a Murray River current, it wasn’t to when or if he’d be ever fit enough to give the game his all. He’s ready now, he knows his club needs him to step up, and that prospect emboldens him greatly.

“We know there’s going to be a lot more responsibility on us younger guys in terms of leadership, but I think that’s more exciting than daunting,” Brand says. “You’d be a bit worried if everyone was daunted by the hole they’ve left – it’s time for us to step into that hole. The guys understand that and are really excited by it.”

“They”, of course, are Luke Hodge and Josh Gibson, whose departures have stripped the Hawthorn backline of 530 games and seven premierships worth of experience. Brand feels blessed to have done an apprenticeship in their company. After a 2016 season of longed-for consistency in terms of games played and performance attained, he is ready, willing and able to step into the breach.

Brand’s medical history as a Hawk features the annoying (a quad strain and, last off-season, a broken finger) and the debilitating (a shoulder that has twice been reconstructed). He enters his sixth season having played 28 games, 17 of them in 2017 and the last 13 in a row. Refreshingly, he feels like he’s only just starting out.

“It’s funny when you see the new draftees come in, all the things they have to do in their first few weeks to get used to the schedule. It feels like only yesterday I was going through that, myself and Tim O’Brien and the guys I came in with.

“When you do sit back and look at it, it has been a long journey. There’s certainly lots of things I’ve had to go through to get to where I am now. It’s hard to reflect on things like that – it’s only really starting out for me. I want to play AFL for as long as I can. It is a long journey ahead, but it’s already been a long journey to get here.”

The most significant ground so far was covered last year, when Gibson’s mid-season misfortune accelerated Brand’s transition from a defender wearing L plates to a pillar of the backline. Increasingly, his lot each week was to march up to the opposition’s most dangerous tall forwards, look them in the eye and match them stride for stride.

An August Friday night against Sydney at the MCG stays with him as a beacon of belief-building. It was Brand’s 24^th game and fourth against the Swans, a team he’s encountered more than any other in his short career. Moreover, it was the first time he’d been given the job on Lance Franklin for an entire game.

“I found out early that week that I was getting Bud, did a bit of research, built myself up for the game. I spoke to a few of the guys who’d played on him before; I’d only played on him for little bits here and there. It was more just having a look at his patterns, where he likes to get the ball.

“We ended up having a good win, and a lot of us younger guys in the backline played really well. It wasn’t just me – I certainly had lots of help from the other defenders. Being able to communicate with them, get their help, made my job a lot easier.”

The “norm” in his career infancy was not playing, and he admits the shift to preparing to get out there week-in, week-out has demanded his greatest adjustment to date. Just seeing his name in the team each weekend built confidence as to his standing in the group. He was happy to note his level of performance lifting, and sees his next challenge as reducing the ups and downs within games and producing a more even line.

“My good performances were pretty high, but there were games when I was a bit average. I want to close that gap and be as consistent as I can with my performance. Playing each week gives you confidence, but I want to take it to the next level in terms of consistency throughout games. I think that’s where I can get better – reducing the little lapse in games where I lose concentration.”

After watching up close as Jack Gunston morphed from two seasons as the club’s leading goalkicker into a key member of a changing backline, Brand isn’t sure who will be filling the last lines of defence with him in 2018. He expects Gunston, Ryan Burton and others to spend time both there and elsewhere, which he hails as an asset for the team.

“That’s a massive bonus for us as a team that we can flip back and forward. The flexibility of the group is a really strong point.”

Brand is inherently relaxed, yet blessed with a steel that coaches love. Despite his rocky beginnings, he has maintained a belief that with opportunity will come improvement and growth. Now he feels it all coming together, and is raising his personal bar accordingly.

“Responsibility is the same – it makes me step up more when I know I’ve got more responsibility in terms of playing on a really good player. I really enjoy that opportunity. There’s a lot of hard tasks out there, but I’m excited to have a crack at all of them. That’s what I’m here to do. If I didn’t have that hunger to beat everyone, there’s not much point me being here.”