“Are you ready to play?” 

It was a typical, near freezing, July night in Geelong, and an hour before the Cats were set to take on the visiting Adelaide Crows, Chris Scott approached an edgy Sam Menegola.

“We’ll bring you in if you’re ready.”

They were the words the then 24-year-old had been waiting exactly 2055 days to hear. 

A 48-disposal performance in the VFL the week before had placed the West Australian right on the cusp of a long-awaited debut, named as an Emergency to take on the Crows. 

And then it happened. 

It’s a story of five years of injury, frustration, and missed opportunities, but on that cold Saturday night back in 2016 he had broken through, finally.

This weekend, Sam Menegola will play his 100th game of football against Carlton at the MCG. 

It’s an extraordinary accomplishment if you know what it’s taken to get there. 

He was drafted as an 18 year old by Hawthorn out of Perth with the 19th pick of the 2010 Rookie Draft but a badly broken scaphoid would result in just three games in the VFL before he was delisted.

A year in and he was already out. 

While a spot on St.Kilda’s senior list was on the table, the Fremantle Dockers were dangling the irresistible opportunity to head home to WA. 

But bad luck would follow him back across the Nullarbor. Twin knee injuries would rob him of the entire 2013 season and half of 2014, and he was again delisted at the end of that season. 

He was now four years and two clubs in and yet to play a single game.  

According to Menegola, the second axing in four years set off a wave of different emotions. 

One of his earliest memories is jumping out of bed every day and putting on his AusKick gear desperately hoping that it might be Sunday, AusKick day. 

This was not how it was meant to be.

“It had been so hard for the three years at Fremantle that I actually felt some excitement and liberation about what I could do next,” he told the Herald Sun last year.

“Then came the disappointment of what it could mean for my AFL career.”

“That led to some anger washing over me, and a wanting to prove the decision makers at Fremantle wrong.”

All the while, Geelong was quietly watching his progress from afar.

A shift to Subiaco in the WAFL started predictably. A ruckman would fall across his ankle and lead to more ligament damage, but then finally, the wheel begun to turn. 

He would dominate the second half of the 2015 WAFL season, finishing just four votes shy of the Sandover Medal – he collected 41 votes in 12 matches - and capped it off with a premiership. 

Suddenly, Sam Menegola was coming. 

Geelong Recruiting and List Manager Stephen Wells, who had eyes on the former East Fremantle Shark as far back as 2010 said his time at Subiaco made him impossible to ignore. 

“He had an outstanding year at Subiaco, and was dominating games every time he played,” he said.

“We kept taking notice of what he was doing. He came across to me as someone who would do everything he possibly could do for success to come his way.”

And that’s the Sam Menegola that Geelong people now know and love. 

If you talk to people within the club, resilient is easily the most common word used. That, and coffee. He’s also a key figure in ensuring the younger players are either preparing themselves for life after footy or doing something worthwhile to get their head out of the bubble. 

His experiences have undeniably shaped him as a footballer, but they have shaped him as a person as well. Sam Menegola is always looking for ways to get better on and off the field. 

While up in the Queensland hub last season, he worked up to 30 hours a week as an Account Executive with global insurance broker Willis Towers Watson, while at the same time earning a spot in the All-Australian squad for the first time. 

Alongside his Diploma in Insurance Broking, he also has a Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Business under his belt and is currently studying for a Bachelor in Applied Management. 

He also welcomed baby Otis with his wife Emma in May last year. As dance cards go, that’s as full as they get.

Menegola collected 26 disposals and laid five tackles that night against the Crows back in 2016. Impressive numbers for a first gamer, sure, but to know his story, is to not be surprised. 

ON the 2056th day he got his opportunity, and he was never going to waste it.