THREE operations, two different feet, one orthopaedic surgeon. Jack Henry spent more time than he wanted to at Wesley Hospital in Brisbane either side of Geelong's premiership win in 2022. But Dr Ben Forster solved the problems that stalled his career.

Henry missed a large chunk of 2022 and 2023 due to two issues in his left foot before suffering a torn Lisfranc ligament in round 21 last season. Entering the prime years of his career, the St Mary’s product couldn't stay on the park. 

But after two stop-start seasons, the 26-year-old has played all 24 games in 2024 to help Geelong progress to another preliminary final against Brisbane, in a season where the defender has proven his durability. 

"It was an annoying patch in my career. It was definitely nice having that affirmation seven or eight rounds into this year that my body was holding up, my feet were feeling fine. That gave me a lot of confidence in my body," Henry told AFL.com.au this week.

"I had the left side, where there were a few reoccurrences, but I was confident that was all fixed last year. Then I had a footy injury on the right-side last year with the Lisfranc being trod on. That was just unlucky.

"What I took out of that was the fact it wasn’t my body letting me down, it was just an accident. We had guys like 'Stewy' [Tom Stewart] who had had the same injury and he came back and won a few All-Australians post-that, so I knew if I rehabbed that all properly you could get back."

Henry entered 2024 as an unrestricted free agent with options. North Melbourne circled his name and made an approach over summer. Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs both kept tabs on his progress, but things never progressed. Born and raised in Geelong, the belief across the industry was Henry was always staying put. 

And he was. At least as far as he was concerned. After a slow negotiation process, Henry secured a five-year deal in late August to remain at the club he grew up barracking for – and literally grew up in the shadows of – until the end of 2029.

"I'm a local guy, love this footy club, I grew up a big fan of the club," Henry said. "You hear a bit of noise from other clubs, but always in my mind it is hard to even picture being somewhere else. I couldn't see myself playing elsewhere or going anywhere else. We are lucky to be here.

"This is a place where I always wanted to be. Most people that live here or work here go for the club, so you are representing the area more than other clubs. That definitely played a factor."

Henry is in line for a key role on semi-final saviour Joe Daniher in Saturday's twilight preliminary final. He is no stranger to big roles at the MCG. Chris Scott sent him to Lance Franklin in the 2022 Grand Final and Henry held the four-time Coleman Medallist to one behind from five disposals and two marks in the 81-point demolition. 'Buddy' kicked his 1000th goal on him at the SCG six months earlier, but the former rookie responded on the big stage. 

Geelong lost the first three games of its premiership defence and spent only eight rounds in the top eight in 2023, before finishing 12th to watch on from afar in September for only the second time under Scott. Now they are back on the penultimate weekend of the season, just with a younger group that burned last off-season after a rare down year. Nine players who featured in the qualifying final win over Port Adelaide – Jack Bowes, Tanner Bruhn, Ollie Dempsey, Ollie Henry, Max Holmes, Lawson Humphries, Shaun Mannagh, Oisin Mullin and Shannon Neale – don't have premiership medals. 

"You could see after last year a lot of guys willingness to be straight back here and into it. You could see the hunger was still there," Henry said.

"We obviously had a down year last year. We had the usual break-up week and then everyone was in doing gym and training together.  You could see the guys didn't want to give up on the goals and dreams. There has been a lot of change since 2022. I look over here and Shaun Mannagh is a new face and what he has been able to give to this team has been pretty special."

Jack's younger brother Ollie moved down the highway a few weeks after Geelong claimed its 10th VFL/AFL premiership, two seasons after being selected by Collingwood in the first round of the 2020 AFL Draft. 

"We spend clearly a lot of time together now around the club," Jack said. "I definitely see more of him around the club than on the field. We are far away from each other. It is great when he is doing well up that end. Walking off the field after a good win is pretty special throwing an arm around him."

Before Nick and Josh Daicos became the game's most recent set of brothers to win a premiership together, Cam and Zach Guthrie achieved the same feat 12 months earlier. Henry wants that same memory with his brother.

"That's the dream," he said. "It was pretty amazing watching Cam and Zach in 2022. It looked special what they got to share with each other. You remember that for the rest of your life, sharing that on the big stage with your brother."

Henry lives with his brother, just not the one that wears No.36 for the Cats. Older brother Tom shares the house in Highton, down the road from GMHBA Stadium. But Jack hopes to be sharing a premiership with Ollie come the final Saturday of September.