Louise Stephenson is one of five Victorians who made the move to Sydney to play for the GIANTS' women’s team in 2017. The 21-year-old is a key position player with an outstanding tank. She takes us through what the women’s team got up to last week.

Monday

I flew into Sydney that afternoon and headed straight to training. Considering my flight landed at 4.25pm and training started at 6.00pm, I think I did well to be only two minutes late! I’d been back home to Melbourne for the weekend as it was my Dad’s birthday and my best friend’s 21st.

At our last training the girls were a bit flat, so we made a real effort to come out firing on Monday. There was a real emphasis on being switched on from the get-go and bringing each other up. It was a really positive night and it showed in our footy.

Tuesday

Kim Green, our Player Development Manager, ran a team values session with the group. Kim is an athlete herself (she plays with the GIANTS netball team) so she really understands how we are feeling and where we are at.

Prior to the meeting Kim asked us to bring in a photo that reflects our beliefs and values.

I brought in two photos my friend Deanna Berry and I. I play football with Deanna back at home for Melbourne University. One photo was from when we played together for Victoria at the Youth Girls National Championships in 2013 and the other was from this year’s championships where I was an assistant coach.

The photos show the camaraderie that’s involved in playing football and also reflected my values of giving back to the game. I’ve known Deanna since she was 14-years-old so to see her get picked for Melbourne Demons at pick 9 in the AFL Women’s draft was such a thrill.

Kim’s session was really good as it helped us get to know our teammates. Our team is quite unique in that we have five girls from Victoria, five from Western Australia, a few from Canberra and of course a lot from Sydney, so we haven’t had a lot to do with one another in the past. So to talk openly about our families and friends and what means the most to us was really intimate and I really think it brought us all together.

Wednesday

Wednesday we were back on the track and you could tell the group was feeling closer from our team values session the night before. 

We were split into our lines for the first time – forwards, backs and mids. We didn’t really know who was going to be in our lines, so to work together as a group was really good.

At the end of the training session our Strength and Conditioning coach, Sim, told us we were going to be doing some extra running. We had already run about 5kms during the training session, so I wasn’t really expecting extra running. It wasn’t really a nice thing to hear when you’re already buggered, but at the same time it was good to work through the running together. We ran side-by-side and really pushed one another. 

Thursday

Thursday is our day off so a few of us went down to Manly beach to enjoy the sunshine. Big Ez (Erin McKinnon), Barrsie (Nicola Barr), Dal Pos (Jessica Dal Pos), Saundry (Alex Saundry) and I just relaxed on the beach. We played some volleyball and talked about footy and life. It’s nice to get to know the girls away from footy and enjoy the Sydney weather! 

We posted a picture on Instagram of us playing volleyball, which ended up being re-grammed by the AFL Women’s account. This lead to a bit of heckling from our footy mates back home, including one jibe from Western Bulldogs’ Aasta O’Connor who commented, “Do you GWS girls do anything at all?!”

Friday

We ran onto the track and noticed we have 30 new AFL Women’s Sherrins! We were pretty excited about that. Our skills were spot on and we finished the week on a high. 

After our short session on the track, Sim took us into the gym for some weights. It was enjoyable doing the gym session together as a group. Normally I go to the gym with just Jess Dal Pos, so it was nice to go with other people who aren’t so serious.

Weekend

I live with four other girls from Victoria out in the western suburbs of Sydney. We had a quiet weekend spent at home with our pet rabbit, Ralph. We don’t have a working TV or the Internet yet, so I have been reading the same magazine for three weeks now.

Sunday morning Saundry and I went to Coogee beach with Fridge (Amanda Farrugia) and May (May Nguyen) and in the afternoon headed to GIANTS headquarters for an extra gym session. It was a good way to end the week.

Phoebe McWilliams will be bringing GIANTS fans a behind-the-scenes insight into the GIANTS' AFL Women's team with interviews and articles across the 2016/2017 season. Phoebe is a Victorian priority player selection for the GIANTS' AFLW team and also has a background in Media and Communications.