“Am I actually getting paid for this?”
Amanda Farrugia’s first thought after being drafted to play in the GIANTS inaugural AFLW team was one of astonishment.
To be paid to play the game she loved, had been a “pipedream” just a few months earlier in 2016, when early murmurings about a national women’s league could be heard around the grounds of the AFL Sydney women’s competition.
The Western Sydney local, who had only come to the game at 25 when the women’s game was in its infancy in Sydney, could barely believe the rumours were true, let alone the role she’d come to play in the AFLW.
“I was super passionate about the game,” Farrugia says.
“I loved the intensity; I loved how you had to leave everything out on the field. Loved waking up super sore the next day.
“These were times where we wore men’s jerseys, we didn’t have proper fields and a lot of the fields we played on were full of sand because there was no drainage.
“It wouldn’t be uncommon for us to play with 14 or 15 because we couldn’t get a full team together.
“It seemed pretty unrealistic in the grand scheme of where football was at for women in the country. Then quickly there was this big announcement that this was actually getting off the ground.
“Quickly conversation turned from ‘this will never happen’ to ‘are you nominating for the draft.’”
Farrugia, who was playing in AFL Sydney’s premier division nominated to what she likens to a “job interview,” submitting a one-page document listing her attributes as a player and complete with a photo of herself.
It was such a trivial process that the likelihood she gave herself of being selected was so low that she watched the 2016 AFLW Draft at work, surrounded by school children, as a teacher in Parramatta.
“We were supposed to be doing school work but we happened to just have it on in the background by chance,” Farrugia says.
“And then it became real.
“It was a huge shock, I still can’t really believe it’s happened. At the time we felt like we were so far away from being elite athletes, it was just me playing footy in a park.”
Farrugia was taken by the GIANTS at Pick 64, following inaugural number one pick Nicola Barr, and current GIANTS captain Bec Beeson at pick 32.
The team was made up of a handful of AFL Sydney’s top players, like Farrugia, priority picks from across the country and marquee signings Renee Forth and Emma Swanson, out of Western Australia.
From the early moments walking into an elite sporting environment as a professional athlete for the first time, Farrugia could note the concern from the Sydney-based cohort.
“There was a lot of self-doubt coming from NSW, with the reputation of talent that existed was that it was below what existed in other states or territories,” Farrugia says.
“The Sydney girls were the battlers, we had to dig in.
“We felt like it was a perception, but it was also a reality that we were coming from behind, the investment wasn’t there.
“At times it seemed far beyond what our physical capability was as we didn’t have access to an elite pathway, to recovery, to nutrition, no access to physios.
“We were petrified of making mistakes. We just wanted to fit in, we didn’t want to feel like we were inferior to the standard that [other clubs] were bringing to the table.”
After a three-month pre-season, it was obvious around the club that grit, and a sense of determination to prove their place in the AFLW bound the GIANTS team, something they aimed to show from the first bounce against Adelaide on Saturday, February 4 2017.
“That was petrifying, it felt like a fairytale,” Farrugia says of the first AFLW game day.
“Driving in you didn’t feel like these people were here to watch what you were going to create on the field.”
Matched up in a new role at half-back against AFL Hall of Famer Erin Phillps, Farrugia had a mark taken on her in the first couple of minutes of that match and quickly understood the skill deficit that would define the GIANTS 2017 season.
“Learning was something we did week-in, week-out in that first season,” Farrugia says.
“We knew we were the underdogs, that message was coming loud and clear from everyone in the football space. The only thing we had to hang our hat on and cling to was the fact that we were a tight group.
“It felt like a lot of us were hanging on for dear life, trying to get through.
“The central theme from that first year was everyone had an individual battle they were trying to fight whilst being told they had to be professional, whilst coping with losses on the field.”
Though the 2017 season was one marred by those losses, the individual growth of players and camaraderie of the squad set the tone for the early years and helped shape Farrugia’s own approach to the game and eventually, her leadership style.
Voted in as captain ahead of the first game, Farrugia forever owns the honour of the GIANTS inaugural AFLW captain.
It’s a badge she wore with honour, yet still an honour she struggles to comprehend.
“It was something that wasn’t in the realm of consideration for me but I took it and I said to myself it’s going to take me completely out of my comfort zone and it taught me so much more about who I am as a human being and particularly my failings and my weaknesses,” Farrugia says.
“It was difficult, especially when you’re losing a lot.
“It was also difficult because we had a really young group and a lot of those leadership responsibilities that might be divvied out all fell upon me, but I was also working full time.
“I was a full-time employee, I had students who relied on me but also this football club who needed me to do a lot of things and a bunch of girls who also needed me to be a bit of a pillar, and that took a lot out of me.”
The GIANTS’ first season finished with one draw, one win and five losses, yet Farrugia reflects on it for its innumerable learnings and the teammates she led.
“I wouldn’t change anything,” Farrugia says.
“It afforded me so many opportunities. It taught me so much about who I am as a person. It gave me some of the strongest friendships that I have still to this day which I really treasure so I’ve gained a lot more out of it than it took out of me.
The GIANTS historic 10th season of AFLW is kicking off this August, and we don’t want you to miss a moment!
This year, we're turning up the value with ‘10 Seasons, 10 Perks’ - featuring 10 member exclusive benefits that deliver real value and elevate your season.
AFLW Members Connect is back for 2025! Join video calls with your GIANTS heroes, unpack results, preview upcoming fixtures and get to you know your GIANT superstars. All GIANTS AFLW members receive an invite to this exclusive behind the scenes experience.
