Looking back on his choice to leave Melbourne for Greater Western Sydney, Toby Bedford said the club sold him a dream that has now come true.
Drafted as an academy selection in 2018, Bedford played only 18 games in three years with the Demons before leaving at the end of 2022, a year after their premiership season.
"It was a dream getting drafted to AFL level but I'd never really felt like a consistent AFL player at Melbourne," Bedford told AAP.
"(GWS) sold me a dream where I could play consistent AFL football and let my game flourish.
"The fact that they've just trusted me all year, and I started off pretty slow as well ... but they really stuck with me.
"It was probably one of the biggest decisions I had to make in my life but I couldn't be happier."
The move has paid immediate dividends for Bedford and the Giants.
GWS are riding the famed orange tsunami into an away semi-final against Port Adelaide after a mammoth effort to end St Kilda's season in a 24-point victory on Saturday - and Bedford has been key to their campaign.
Since debuting for the club in round seven, the 23-year-old has established himself as the top pressure forward in the competition, averaging 24 pressure acts and five tackles per game.
He was prolific for the Giants against St Kilda, kicking two goals and collecting seven score involvements from 16 disposals - including a clinical slice away from Saints skipper Jack Steele through the midfield to give Jake Riccardi his second major.
But a fortnight-long tribunal headache had threatened to leave Bedford out of his first AFL final.
"I'm lucky enough that I got the right people in my corner. The club were awesome. After the tribunal, I knew within the next day that we were going to appeal it," he said, recalling his "massive relief" when the suspension was overturned.
The last time the Giants went head-to-head against Port Adelaide, their "big, big sound" was hushed in a 51-point loss.
This time, the difference is Bedford and fellow pressure forward Brent Daniels will be available for selection, having been sidelined from that heavy defeat due to one-match bans.
"We didn't go to the game, and watching from home was extremely tough," Bedford said.
"We're going to go out there with a bit more drive to it, with the feeling that we have something to prove.
"(The Giants) try to take it week by week but we also have this little feeling in the back of our minds: If we go out there and play our game every week then, 'Why not us?'"
