The 19-year-old had settled in to his new home of Whitten Oval in May this year. He'd played six games for Williamstown seniors and kicked multiple goals in all of them, including four on debut.
He was being touted as the answer the Bulldogs' height problem in front of goal, and was developing as was planned after being selected with pick No.5 overall in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.
Then, on May 24, he lined up against the Box Hill Hawks in a game that would alter the remainder of his year.
Grant had never had groin issues before -- his only experience with osteitis pubis involved friends that had been struck down by the so-called 'footballer's curse'.
So, it came as a complete surprise when after that match, he pulled up sore.
"I've never had those sorts of problems before. I never thought I would because I've never had anything like that," he told westernbulldogs.com.au.
"A few of my mates had it so I'd heard about it and how it was an unlucky one to get.
"It was just really in my last game that I started to become sore, and we monitored it a bit and it got no better, so we pulled the pin."
Grant was diagnosed with the "early onset" of OP, and was put on a no-running program that confined him to lifting weights in the gym in the hope the rest would see him back playing before the end of the year.
However, it was a slower than anticipated recovery, and with the number of elite players that suffer from the debilitating complaint, the Dogs erred on the side of caution and ruled him out for the year.
"It was pretty frustrating considering the boys were playing finals at Willy and with the Bulldogs, but you've got to look at the long run," Grant said.
"It was probably a bit of an unlucky year, but I've passed that one now and I'm ready to move onto the next."
The AIS-AFL Academy graduate, who was also stung by a stingray in the waters off Port Melbourne in February this year, hopes his bad luck is confined to his first year.
Already, things are looking up. He's been running since September, and is feeling no effects of the condition that ruined his season.
"I've been in the gym a fair bit, trying to put on some kilos and just doing a lot of core work and trying to get the muscles around my groin area stronger and to function better, so it doesn't occur again," he said.
"I haven't had any pain, any soreness, and I'm just keeping a close eye on it and trying to get all the recovery bits right to fix it up.
"I'll just get through training and see how that goes, then hopefully I can have a run around in the NAB Cup next year.
"My body obviously wasn't really in AFL condition yet, so I've just got to focus on putting on the kilos and doing the hard work, and my time will come."
