It’s set to be a special weekend for GIANTS’ leader Katherine Smith, who’ll not only become just the second GIANT to reach 75 AFLW games but will do so wearing the jumper she personally designed for a round extremely close to her heart.

One of the trailblazers of the competition after being selected in the inaugural AFLW draft by the Demons back in 2016, Smith played 21 games for Melbourne before making the move to the Harbour City in 2020, swapping the red and blue for orange and charcoal.

Smith has gone from strength to strength since joining the GIANTS to establish herself as one of the club’s most reliable players and as part of the leadership group for the last two seasons.

Currently in her 10^th season of AFLW, Smith is chuffed as she prepares to join a select few to reach the special 75 game milestone this Saturday when the GIANTS face the Cats in Geelong.

“It’s pretty surreal. I can’t believe it’s been 75 games,” she said.

“It’s quite humbling too - I’m really proud of it.

“I believe it’s just Alicia Eva that’s done it before [for the GIANTS] so it’s quite an achievement and something that makes me really grateful for all the support along the journey from my family and the GIANTS, and even the Melbourne Football Club in the early days.

“I don’t strive for milestones, I just play because I love the game and I love working hard for my teammates. It’ssomething I’m proud of though - to still be playing after 10 seasons and to get to 75 games.

“I just want to win [on Saturday] and I’ll be happy.”

Adding extra meaning to the special milestone is the fact that it comes during the first week of the AFLW’s Pride Round and that Smith and her teammates will be wearing the special Pride Jumper that she personally designed.

“It does feel quite nice to wear the Pride jersey for my 75^th game,” Smith said.

“Designing that last year was something that I’d never expected to do and to be able to create something with the help of my teammates that really represents the playing group is something I’m very proud of.

"It’s really special I get to wear that for my 75^th game.

“I know the girls also love the jersey so it’s great we get to play in it for two weeks.”

Adding further satisfaction to her upcoming milestone is Smith’s ability to overcome a major injury hurdle earlier on in her career, with the tough and gritty defender suffering a devastating ACL injury in 2019 while at the Dees.

“I did my ACL in the Covid year and I did a lot of my rehab in lockdown in Melbourne, so that was really difficult,” Smith reflected.

“I spent 13 months coming back from that, so it wasn’t the smoothest sailing ACL rehab.

“I'm very fortunate I was able work really hard to get back and now be at a point where I’m really comfortablewith my body.

“It takes a while after an ACL to feel confident and comfortable, and I think that’s what people don’t really talk about a lot of the time.

"I’ve been super lucky that the physios and the strength and conditioning staff have been incredible and helped make me the athlete that I am today.”

As she approaches Saturday’s special milestone against the Cats, Smith took a moment to reflect on her love for the GIANTS and her role as one of the club’s leaders.

“I obviously love leading the group and it’s something I’m really proud of.

“Bec Beeson is an incredible captain, and I get to help her out and make sure that we are creating the right path to get to where we want to get to - it’s pretty cool.

“It’s fantastic that we are all voted [for the leadership group] so it feels really special and unique in that it really represents the playing group.

“I feel really passionate about the club and I want to make sure we are successful and successful for a long time into the future, and if I can contribute to that then that’s always a great thing.”

Now a veteran in the competition, part of what keeps Smith motivated is the incredible growth of the league and the remarkable young talent entering the AFLW each year.

“The talent of the kids coming through is absolutely insane. Athletically, skill-wise, footy brains – they’re just great,” Smith said.

“It’s great to be a part of it all and it reminds me every year that I’ve got to get better because I’ll be out of a job soon enough because of the kids coming through.

“But that’s the special thing about being here from the start - seeing the evolution and the standard of football and the electric moments that you see on highlight reels now.

"The players we have today are really incredible and it’s setting a great standard for the competition.”

While she’s on the verge of reaching an elusive milestone this weekend as one of the competition’s longest tenured players, Smith appears to have plenty left in the tank after backing up last year’s career-best season with arguably an even better 2025 to date. But while she won’t rule out trying to reach 100 AFLW games, for now Smith’s focus is on the present. 

“Let’s get through my 75^th and then let’s see,” she laughed on the idea of reaching 100 games.

For a player who’s always led with heart, Saturday’s milestone will be a fitting celebration of dedication, resilience, and pride - in every sense of the word.

Smith will bring up game 75 at 3:05pm on Saturday when the GIANTS face the Cats in Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.