I remember watching a particular AFLM game last year during the lockdown. 

My team had just lost and the boundary rider approached a player from my team to interview them about the match.

The player was obviously shattered. He looked deflated, but he put on a brave face.

He was open and honest with the reporter, telling her that the loss hurt. He explained that the loss wasn’t from a lack of trying and that nobody on the team wanted to lose games.

As a supporter I appreciated his honesty and could see how much the game, the club and his team meant to him.

After our game last Friday night, this player and this interview jumped into my mind as that was exactly how I felt.

Our club, our coaches, my teammates and our support staff - we are all trying our best. We are all working so hard to get better on and off the field and we are all so invested.

It hurts when we lose and it hurts even more when you lose five games in a row. The losses compound on each other and it’s really difficult to think positively.

The only way through these times is to stick together and I have been amazed by our group and our ability to bounce back, together.

Sticking together

As a player when you lose a game it’s very easy to go home and think about all the things that went wrong.

A couple of times this season I have been up until all hours in the morning replaying the game in my mind - what I could have done, what I should have done, what I can do to improve. 

Sometimes you can lay awake for hours running through these scenarios.

Last week the team decided that win, lose or draw, after the game we were all going to spend some time together socially as a group.

With the result as it was, I wasn’t sure how many girls would feel like catching up after the game. 

To our credit the majority of our group came along. Of course there was still plenty of footy talk, but at least we were together.

This shows character. Our group gets along really well and we enjoy spending time together. This is so important, especially when things aren't going as planned.

I was proud of our team for showing up and looking out for each other.

Indigenous Round

Though the result of the game wasn’t ideal, there were still plenty of reasons to celebrate Round 5.

Our game was the first match of the AFLW’s first ever Indigenous Round.

Leading up to the game our group was fortunate to experience some special events at training.

We were shown a video of Matthew Stokes and Corrina Eccles who designed our amazing guernsey. 

Corrina is a traditional owner of Wadawurrung Country and she ran through the guernsey’s design and what it represented.

After this our teammate Steph Williams took us out onto the surface of GMHBA Stadium where we sat in a circle and listened to her story. She told us about her journey and what this round meant to her. It was a privilege to listen to.

I particularly loved that during the round every ground that hosted an AFLW match had the Aboriginal art symbol for woman painted just above the centre circle.

It was an honour to wear our jumper and be a part of this round.

A new week

Each week we return to the club and each week I’m surprised by how resilient our group is. 

On Tuesday night Liv Purcell walked into the club after it was confirmed she had ruptured her ACL.

She walked in, held her head high, put on a brave face and was talking to our physios about what training she could do. Her positive mindset has been outstanding.

There was plenty of chat amongst the group.The mood was up and we continue to look for ways to improve.

During drills players were coming up with new ideas, sharing their experiences and talking to teammates in other lines to see what they can do to help them. It’s so impressive to see.

It would be easy for us to drop our heads, but that’s not how this team operates.

We will keep trying until the end.