An Instagram post made the day he was delisted from Carlton came attached with a promise Liam Stocker vowed he would fulfil, no matter how long it took.

‘It’s not the end of my story,’  he wrote. ‘I’ll be back.’ 

Stocker has since held himself to that pledge, signing on with St Kilda via the pre-season Supplemental Selection Period on Friday morning to reignite his dream of being on an AFL list.

There were several boxes for him to tick off if there were to be a contract eventually pushed across General Executive Manager of Football Geoff Walsh’s desk towards him. Skills, fitness and talent were all among the essential markers if he was to earn that second chance, but above all, there had to be a real appetite to be back at senior level.

When Stocker was first invited to train with the Saints in September, Walsh flagged that there needed to be the “fire in the belly” to be in consideration for a list spot. That certainly hasn’t been an issue for the "rough and tumble" recruit.

It was reinforced even further following a chat with Senior Coach Ross Lyon just before the Christmas break. Lyon's directive was simple and to the point: "You're doing good so far. Get this Christmas break right. It'll make or break your chance at getting back."

“I put up a post when I was delisted that said ‘I’ll be back’, and I was pretty firm on that. I believe I’ve got a lot more to give at AFL level and that hasn’t really wavered since,” Stocker told saints.com.au.

“When I got in Ross Lyon made it pretty apparent what I had to do to get a spot on the list and I feel I’ve worked towards that pretty well.

“Getting to know a new group of boys and a new club as a whole has been really exciting though – difficult at times as well – but the club’s been superb with me.

“From staff to players, everyone’s made me feel really welcome and I’ve felt as close to a part of the group as ever.”

Stocker’s axing from the Blues came as a shock both to him personally and among wider football circles. Both parties believed there was a lot more in the tank to impact at senior level, none more so than the former.

His name was first on every pundit’s lips during the 2018 National Draft, which saw Carlton exchange future first-round selections with Adelaide in the first-ever live pick swap to specifically snap up the Sandringham Dragons product at pick No. 19.

There’s been heightened attention – and scrutiny – on him ever since. Stocker seemed to have shrugged off the weight of expectation after laying the foundations to be a Carlton mainstay with 17 games in 2021 as a half-back flanker, but managed only six appearances the following year after a three-month syndesmosis injury in the pre-season and then a shoulder setback in his short-lived return.

But there’s a lot on Stocker’s side. At only 22 years old there’s plenty of footy ahead of him, his frame allows for the bullocking, hard-hitting grunt which he relishes, and his brief time at St Kilda has been uninterrupted unlike his previous injury-troubled seasons.

“I think my physicality’s been on show since I got drafted. I love the rough and tumble and that’s something I feel like I’ve got different to most AFL players now,” Stocker said.

“I want to play a lot of games of AFL football this year and I think I’m in a really good position to do that.

“My ball skills and explosion I’ve got back after a couple of years of injury, so I’m really excited to bring those and show the Saints supporters what I’m about.”

A diehard Saints supporter growing up, Stocker is now rubbing shoulders with the likes of assistant coaches Lenny Hayes – one of his idols who he was “starstruck” meeting for the first time – and Robert Harvey, but has spent the bulk of his time in new colours with backline coach Corey Enright. 

The awe of being at St Kilda still hasn’t worn off. Even the likes of the laidback Jimmy Webster, who Stocker closely watched growing up, gives him that same feeling, with the fact he’s now sharing a locker room with him and several others still “strange” for the Blue-turned-Saint.

“I’m feeling fantastic. I was a Sainter for 18 years before I was drafted and it’s come full circle now,” Stocker said.

“I’m pretty stoked to be here. I just want to be as consistent a performer as I can, give the club what I’ve got and see where that takes me in the future.”