THROUGHOUT the past two years, Ryan Griffen could have been forgiven for asking the Bulldogs to trade him back across the border to where his football career began.

His family life in Goolwa, South Australia, had been turned upside down following his father John's cancer diagnosis in February, 2008.

After surgery and initial belief the disease had been curbed, the Griffens were told their worst fears would soon be realised. The cancer was terminal.

A year later, as Ryan was preparing to take on Essendon in the NAB Cup opener, he received the phone call he had been dreading.

"I told mum to give me that call as soon as she knew things were going bad so I had two weeks with him before he passed away," the 23-year-old told westernbulldogs.com.au.

"It had been tough for a long time because dad was sick for a long time.

"Towards the end, it got really tough but the Bulldogs were so supportive. I went straight home and I was there for mum."

The Bulldogs were there for Griffen, too. A total of 14 players travelled to South Australia to attend the funeral, and coach Rodney Eade gave his young charge two weeks' leave to be with his family.

It is this sense of camaraderie that ensured Griffen remained dedicated to staying at Whitten Oval.

"I never thought of going home. My mum would hate me if I did that," he said with a smile.

"I love where I'm at with the Bulldogs. Sometimes I wanted to go home and be there for mum but I never wanted to trade back there.

"Things got tough for awhile. My brothers (Trent and Travis) are both back there as well and they were doing it pretty tough so I sometimes I wanted to go back there and support them but I had a job at hand and I had to be here with the Bulldogs."

Griffen said the club provided him with the support he needed while giving him an avenue of escape when things got decidedly dark.

So when teammate and close friend Lindsay Gilbee's father Lawrie was given weeks to live after being diagnosed with leukaemia in the middle of last year, Griffen was determined to help him through.

"It brought us closer together. He took it really hard and had to keep playing as well," he said.

"I was just there for him. I have massive respect for Lindsay with what he went through."

It's been over a year since John passed away. Griffen admits there were days over the past 12 months where he didn't want to be at the club after losing the man who once religiously drove him an hour to South Adelaide training twice a week.

But now, he's looking forward to the future. He's been in a relationship for the past 18 months and he's just purchased a large block of land in Geelong with Shaun Higgins, Tim Callan and Adam Cooney with property development in mind. 

Right now, he can't wait to spend some time with his mum who is in Melbourne for what is the first of many planned road trips this year.

"She's going to come over as much as she can. It's good having her come over to watch games," he said.

"She's going to come to Brisbane in round four and Darwin later on. It will be good."