Clunk, clunk…pause. Clunk, clunk...pause. Every step up the stairs from the change rooms to the players viewing box at Optus Stadium is arduous and concentrated.
Eventually young draftee Campbell Chesser clambers his way, each arm supporting an aluminium extension, to the landing at the top of the second flight. Having reached the summit, he takes a breath.
It’s not Everest, but it did take some work. As he stops for a few seconds perhaps he’s evaluating a debut ‘match day’ experience at the Eagles home stadium he had never imagined.
The Eagles are playing Fremantle in a pre-season encounter and no doubt he visualised being a part of it. That is now on hold.
After panning the oval, he slips through a door into the stadium seating bowl.
There he lays down his sticks, stretches his legs and joins other winged Eagles confined to the stands. He has more company than anyone would like. Premiership players Elliot Yeo, Jamie Cripps and skipper Luke Shuey among them.
So, too, are fellow 2021 draftees Rhett Bazzo, Jack Williams and Greg Clark. The pre-season carnage has been indiscriminate. Cruel.
Nine days earlier Chesser donned his No.18 Eagles guernsey for the first time, also against the Dockers at Mineral Resources Park. In a marking contest in the opening minutes he landed awkwardly. It looked bad. It was.
Scans revealed a serious ankle injury. The prognosis is a long stint on the sidelines. Not for days or weeks. Months.
For club and player it is a bitter blow.
Surgery awaits and as the club hailed the cavalry – in the form of four supplementary selection period players – Chesser has been sent for surgery. Hardly the realisation of the dream that rushed through his body on draft night as he donned an outrageously large Eagles jumper for a string of promotional pics.
This outcome was not on his mind as he drove more than 3500km from Wodonga to Perth and then quarantined for two weeks on arrival so he could immerse himself in the club at the earliest opportunity.
For now his visualisation of playing at the elite level is on hold.
His injury and recovery period are such that he and premiership defender Tom Cole have been placed on the inactive list. Their rehabilitation post surgery will be meticulous and cautious. Both are integral in the short and long term.
For Chesser, who had played little football because of the damned pandemic in the last two years, patience is even more important.
A gentle shove in the back from a Fremantle opponent two weeks ago was enough to skew his landing and was the only blemish of his pre-season campaign.
He had been on track for a round one debut. Not only did he impress in training with his pace, skill and football aptitude, but he has a wonderful demeanour and is already highly regarded by his teammates.
To be fair he had a few credits in the bank when he opted to drive to Perth and take the hit with the fortnight of isolation. That was the first indication the club’s recruiting staff had made the right call.
In training and match simulation there was further evidence.
Along with Chesser, we will all need to wait to see him step into battle but you can be sure he will be ready when that moment comes.
He has been here just a couple of months, but you can safely bet he will take no short cuts on his next journey towards the game’s pinnacle.
