If a week is a long time in our game, then a month can seem like an eternity. It was only five weeks ago that off-season acquisition, Mitch Hallahan, came under forensic examination from certain sections of the media for his exploits to date at his new club. Fast-forward to now; the former Hawk has put together an ultra consistent patch, turning down the volume on those wanting to write him off.
 
It’s an age-old adage: preparation is key. And it’s a mantra that decorated seasons are typically chiselled from. A flawless pre-season strengthens your chances of putting together a consistent season. Whereas, missing sessions and weeks in the summer, puts you behind the pack, particularly if you’ve just moved from a rival club out of choice, rather than necessity.
 
Hallahan arrived at Metricon Stadium at the beginning of November with an ankle in the early stages of rehabilitation following a reconstruction. At a time where you are desperate to impress new teammates and coaches, being confined to rehabilitation, away from busting a gut is not helpful. But that was simply the reality for the 22-year-old who was recruited from Waverley Park and perceived as the missing jigsaw puzzle piece in Gold Coast’s evolving midfield.
 
In the first month of the season, the Gold Coast SUNS’ list deteriorated almost overnight. Before a ball was even bounced, Jaeger O’Meara had his year taken away from him in the blink of an eye, Gary Ablett was soon set for an extended spell, David Swallow followed a fortnight later. And whilst the latter two will return shortly, another key pillar of the engine room, Dion Prestia, will not.
 
In the space of six weeks, the man regarded as the missing piece, was suddenly the only man still standing. After joining one of the more talented midfields in the game, Hallahan’s transition was far more difficult than it would have been in an ideal world. Although there is rarely such thing as an ideal world in football.
 
His beginning to the season lacked consistency, both on the track and on the ground. He played one week, then missed the next. His failure to build continuity provoking a reaction from some analysts who couldn’t see where the inside midfielder fit in Rodney Eade’s plans.

 
Hallahan has now played the last six matches in Rodney Eade’s side – a figure that he managed across four fruitless seasons at Hawthorn. And since being recalled as a late inclusion against the West Coast Eagles over in Perth, the Victorian has flourished against quality opposition, averaging 23.8 possessions, 14.4 contested, 8.2 clearances and 5.4 tackles in the last five weeks.
 
“It’s no secret that you need that continuity in training, but also playing games. It’s something that I wasn’t able to get early in my time up here on the Gold Coast. I played one game, missed one game for the first two months of the year,” Hallahan told SUNS TV.
 
“The last month has been quite promising and quite steady in terms of consistent performances. Now it’s about consolidating that and looking for a big second half of the year.
 
“For me, I knew there was always going to be criticism (when) you leave a club for new opportunities and that’s just part and parcel with the decision that I made. I guess the last four weeks I’ve started to answer some of those critics and really build some consistent form.
 
“I come up here as part of a trade and expect to play alongside those guys, to have none of them for the best part of the first year, it’s been somewhat beneficial in terms of my own personal development.
 
“I’ve only played 11 or 12 games now, but I come here with the expectation to play alongside those guys and complement their games. It hasn’t worked out that way, but hopefully in the second part of the year we can get Ablett, Swallow back and look for next year for a bit more growth.”

 
If the performance against West Coast in Subiaco was the catalyst for his turnaround in form, then his effort against his old side in Tasmania was the pinnacle of his season, and his career to date. It’s an unenviable assignment for any departed player, but a reality of the home and away fixture.
 
No one could begrudge Hallahan for leaving in search of greener pastures. After all, he had spent four long years at Waverley Park; it wasn’t his fault that the timing was far from ideal. When a midfield comprises triple-premiership stars in Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Shaun Burgoyne, and you make your living on the inside, it was always going to be a tough task or a waiting game to break into Alastair Clarkson’s engine room.
 
It was apparent for all to see at Aurora Stadium on that wet and miserable afternoon, Hallahan was playing with added motivation. Given the years of frustration, the countless days of uncertainty of where he sat in selection calculations, Hallahan produced the finest performance of his short career, in what he describes as an emotional affair.
 
“To play against ‘Hodgey’ and ‘Mitch’ down in Tassie the other week, it was somewhat of an emotional experience for myself. But it was just an absolute pleasure to go to war against those two guys that I’ve spent some time under, looking up to them, idolising them and them mentoring me in a way,” Hallahan said.
 
“It was an emotional game but I think it just shows the benefit those guys had on my career early on. If it was a tough game for the club and for myself. It’s the first time I’ve been nervous before a game in quite a while, as silly as that sounds. But playing against good mates and guys you really respect, it was really, really tough emotionally and also physically.
 
“You go to a new club, when you play your old side – I think you can ask anyone that leaves a club, that they really want to make a statement and play well. I think I was able to do that. I got a couple of text messages from some of the boys post that game saying the respect we have for you is really high, you were really able to play well against us – that’s not an easy thing to do.”

 
For as long as Hallahan has been in the AFL system he has suffered from a lingering ankle complaint that has required three bouts of invasive surgery. The most recent being the one that forced him to stand and watch the first half of the pre-season in Carrara. It’s a reality that is far from uncommon at the elite level, but something Hallahan will have to pay close attention to for the duration of his career, to ensure that he can wring the most out of his football prowess.
 
“That’s the way it’s been for the first four and half years now, it’s never gone away in a sense. It’s always a bit of a lingering problem. I don’t see it too much as a problem, its more just got to manage, be smart with your loads and your body,” Hallahan said.
 
“If you can get a good solid pre-season base behind you then you can carry that through the year. I missed a fair chunk of last season because of off-season surgery, hopefully we can get through this year unscathed and launch into another full pre-season in 2016.”
 
His first season at Metricon Stadium has not brought the team success many pundits predicted on the eve of 2015. The Rodney Eade era was expected to see the Gold Coast SUNS enter unchartered territory. But, personnel dilemmas through injury has compromised the year to date, although Hallahan has fought back from a slow start to demonstrate why he was so highly sought after at the end of last year.
 
It is only a start, but given his lack of experience despite his age, Hallahan may well be one of the main beneficiaries of the injury calamity. People overlook the fact he joined the SUNS having only played six AFL games, his increased responsibility and exposure this season will undoubtedly assist the evolving red and yellow engine room in years to come.